# 2018 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season

The 2018 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 52nd in the club's history. Coached by Shane Flanagan and captained by Paul Gallen and Wade Graham, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2018 Telstra Premiership.

## Fixtures
### Pre-season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Cro. | Opp. | Source |
| 17 February | Trial Match | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 30 | 14 | |
| 24 February | Trial Match | Wests Tigers | Campbelltown Stadium, Sydney | Win | 24 | 12 | |

### Regular season

| Date | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Cro. | Opp. | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
| 9 March | 1 | North Queensland Cowboys | 1300SMILES Stadium, Townsville | Loss | 14 | 20 | Dugan, Segeyaro | Townsend 3/3 | |
| 15 March | 2 | St George Illawarra Dragons | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 16 | 20 | Bukuya, Feki | Townsend 4/4 | |
| 24 March | 3 | Parramatta Eels | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Win | 14 | 4 | Townsend | Townsend 5/5 | |
| 30 March | 4 | Melbourne Storm | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 14 | 4 | Lee | Townsend 5/5 | |
| 6 April | 5 | Sydney Roosters | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 10 | 28 | Holmes (2) | Townsend 1/3 | |
| 13 April | 6 | St George Illawarra Dragons | WIN Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 20 | 40 | Brailey, Lee, Holmes, Leutele | Townsend 2/4 | |
| 22 April | 7 | Penrith Panthers | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 26 | 22 | Ramien (2), Holmes, Sorensen | Townsend 5/6 | |
| 28 April | 8 | Gold Coast Titans | Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast | Win | 10 | 9 | Holmes, Lee | Townsend 0/2 | Townsend 2/2 |
| 5 May | 9 | Parramatta Eels | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 22 | 20 | Feki (2), Townsend, Lee | Townsend 3/5 | |
| 13 May | 10 | Canberra Raiders | GIO Stadium, Canberra | Win | 24 | 16 | Holmes (2), Williams, Feki | Townsend 4/5 | |
| 20 May | 11 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 22 | 16 | Lee, Holmes, Ramien, Matt Prior | Townsend 3/4 | |
| 27 May | 12 | Newcastle Knights | McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle | Win | 48 | 10 | Holmes (3), Ramien (2), Brailey, Dugan, Lee, Lewis | Townsend 6/10 | |
| 1 June | 13 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 14 | 22 | Ramien, Katoa | Townsend 3/3 | |
| 10 June | 14 | Wests Tigers | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 24 | 16 | Gallen, Holmes, Lee, Ramien | Townsend 4/5 | |
| 16 June | 15 | Brisbane Broncos | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 16 | 20 | Ramien, Leutele, Graham | Townsend 2/3 | |
| 29 June | 16 | New Zealand Warriors | Mt Smart Stadium, Auckland | Win | 18 | 15 | Lee (2), Ramien | Townsend 3/5 | |
| | 17 | Bye | | | | | | | |
| 13 July | 18 | Penrith Panthers | Panthers Stadium, Sydney | Win | 24 | 12 | Holmes (2), Katoa, Moylan | Townsend 4/4 | |
| 20 July | 19 | Canberra Raiders | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 28 | 24 | Fifita, Leutele, Holmes, Graham, Katoa | Townsend 4/6 | |
| 26 July | 20 | Brisbane Broncos | Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane | Loss | 10 | 12 | Holmes(2) | Townsend 1/2 | |
| 5 August | 21 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 32 | 33 | Graham, Holmes, Moylan, Ramien, Woods | Holmes 6/7 | |
| 12 August | 22 | Melbourne Storm | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Win | 17 | 14 | Brailey, Holmes, Dugan | Holmes 2/3 | Townsend 1/1 |
| 18 August | 23 | North Queensland Cowboys | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 28 | 16 | Lewis, Townsend, Fifita, Dugan, Bukuya | Holmes 4/5 | |
| 26 August | 24 | Newcastle Knights | Southern Cross Group Stadium, Sydney | Win | 38 | 12 | Lee(2), Dugan, Feki, Holmes, Townsend | Holmes4/5, Lee 1/1 | |
| 2 September | 25 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | ANZ Stadium, Sydney | Win | 30 | 18 | Feki(2), Capewell, Fifita, Dugan, Holmes | Holmes 3/6 | |

### Finals Series

| Date | Week | Opponent | Venue | Result | Cro. | Opp. | Tries | Goals | Field Goals |
| 8 September | 1 | Sydney Roosters | Allianz Stadium, Sydney | Loss | 12 | 21 | Feki, Lee | Holmes 2/3 | |
| 14 September | 2 | Penrith Panthers | Allianz Stadium, Sydney | Win | 21 | 20 | Townsend, Holmes, Lewis | Holmes 4/5 | Townsend 1/1 |
| 14 September | 2 | Melbourne Storm | AAMI Park, Melbourne | Loss | 6 | 22 | Lewis | Holmes 1/1 | |

### Ladder

2018 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 542 | 361 | +181 | 34 |
| 2 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 536 | 363 | +173 | 34 |
| 3 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 582 | 437 | +145 | 34 |
| 4 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 519 | 423 | +96 | 34 |
| 5 | Penrith Panthers | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 517 | 461 | +56 | 32 |
| 6 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 556 | 500 | +56 | 32 |
| 7 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 519 | 472 | +47 | 32 |
| 8 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 15 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 472 | 447 | +25 | 32 |
| 9 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 377 | 460 | −83 | 26 |
| 10 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 10 | 0 | 14 | 1 | 563 | 540 | +23 | 22 |
| 11 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 1 | 414 | 607 | −193 | 20 |
| 12 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 428 | 474 | −46 | 18 |
| 13 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 449 | 521 | −72 | 18 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 8 | 0 | 16 | 1 | 472 | 582 | −110 | 18 |
| 15 | Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 1 | 500 | 622 | −122 | 16 |
| 16 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 6 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 374 | 550 | −176 | 14 |

## Player movements

Source:

## Representative honours

The following players have played a first grade representative match in 2018. (C) = Captain
| Player | State of Origin 1 | 2018 Pacific Rugby League Tests | State of Origin 2 | State of Origin 3 | International Rugby League tests |
| Valentine Holmes | Queensland | - | Queensland | Queensland | Australia |
| James Segeyaro | - | Papua New Guinea (C) | — | — | — |
| Joseph Paulo | - | Samoa | — | — | — |
| Andrew Fifita | - | Tonga | — | — | Tonga |
| Matt Prior | - | - | New South Wales | — | — |
| Aaron Woods | - | - | - | - | Australia |

## Squad statistics

Statistics Source: Statistics current as of Round 25
| Name | App | T | G | FG | Pts |
| Jayden Brailey | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Jayson Bukuya | 18 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Kurt Capewell | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Kurt Dillon | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Dugan | 13 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 24 |
| Sosaia Feki | 13 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
| Andrew Fifita | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Paul Gallen | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Wade Graham | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Aaron Gray | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trent Hodkinson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Valentine Holmes | 23 | 21 | 21 | 0 | 126 |
| Sione Katoa | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Edrick Lee | 16 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 46 |
| Ricky Leutele | 23 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
| Luke Lewis | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Matt Moylan | 21 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
| Joseph Paulo | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Prior | 24 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Jesse Ramien | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 40 |
| James Segeyaro | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Ava Seumanufagai | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Sorensen | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Chad Townsend | 24 | 4 | 62 | 3 | 143 |
| Braden Uele | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jack Williams | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Aaron Woods | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Kyle Flanagan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 Players used | — | 87 | 84 | 3 | 519 |