Following a first round bye, the Sharks had a slow start to the season before a win against the South Sydney Rabbitohs in round four appeared to get things going. There were mixed results throughout the season, including two wins against the previous year's grand finalists North Queensland and a home win against the St. George Illawarra Dragons (its first against them since 2002), however after its round 16 away win against the Newcastle Knights in Newcastle everything started to fall apart with the Sharks, seemingly on their way to the finals, losing their last nine matches of the season. By the season's end, the Sharks had fallen to 13th place (third-last) and coach Stuart Raper, knowing his time was up, was sacked. There were calls from passionate Sharks fans and the media for Ricky Stuart, at the time the Test coach who had also just been dismissed by the Sydney Roosters, to be installed as Cronulla coach. Ending months of speculation, Stuart was signed on as Sharks coach in the belief that the Sharks would once again return to the summit of the competition.
