2008 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season

2008 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
League	3rd NRL
2008 record	W18 L8 D0
Away record	38
Points for	487 (82 tries, 78 goals, 3 field goals)
Points against	422 (74 tries, 62 goals, 2 field goals)
Team information
Coach	Ricky Stuart
Captain	Paul Gallen Greg Bird
Ground	Toyota Stadium
Average attendance	12,965
Top scorers
Tries	Luke Covell (15)
Goals	Luke Covell (73)
Points	Luke Covell (206)
< 2007 2009 >

In NRL season 2008, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks were real premiership contenders, finishing the regular season in 3rd place, only to be knocked out in the finals by eventual runners-up Melbourne.

Season summary

The Sharks began the season on a positive note, with a victory over 2007 runners-up Manly Sea Eagles in Round 1 followed by a shock 17-16 victory over 2007 grand final winners Melbourne in Round 2. The match against the Storm was marred by a on-field brawl after an illegal tackle by Cronulla's Ben Ross on Melbourne's Cooper Cronk, resulting in both Ross and Melbourne's Brett White being sent off and later being referred to the NRL judiciary.^[1]

The Sharks' season of promise was however marred by the late season suspension of star player Greg Bird, following its round 24, 20-0 win over top four contenders the Sydney Roosters at home. Bird was accused of glassing his then-girlfriend Katie Milligan and was stood down by the club just a fortnight out from the finals. Furthermore, five-eighth Brett Seymour suffered a knee injury during the finals; robbing the Sharks of any valuable halves experience at the wrong end of the season. Bird was later sacked by the Sharks; since then he has been exonerated over the glassing incident and he now plays for the Gold Coast Titans.

The Sharks ended the season joint minor premiers with Manly and Melbourne (third on points differential) and many believed this was the year Cronulla would finally win its maiden premiership. The Sharks won its first final in style, thrashing the Canberra Raiders 36-10 at home with Misi Taulapapa, a Warriors outcast scoring a hat-trick. Due to the Melbourne Storm losing its first final, the Sharks earned the week off along with Manly. It was during this time that Seymour suffered his knee injury, ending his 2008 season. The Sharks' season ended with a disappointing 28-0 defeat at the hands of the Melbourne Storm whose captain Cameron Smith was suspended a week earlier for a grapple tackle on Brisbane's Sam Thaiday.

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	B	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Melbourne	24	17	0	7	2	584	282	+302	38
2	Manly-Warringah	24	17	0	7	2	645	355	+290	38
3	Cronulla	24	17	0	7	2	451	384	+67	38
4	Sydney Roosters	24	15	0	9	2	511	446	+65	34
5	Brisbane	24	14	1	9	2	560	452	+108	33
6	Canberra	24	13	0	11	2	640	527	+113	30
7	St. George Illawarra	24	13	0	11	2	489	378	+111	30
8	New Zealand	24	13	0	11	2	502	567	-65	30
9	Newcastle	24	12	0	12	2	516	486	+30	28
10	Wests Tigers	24	11	0	13	2	528	560	-32	26
11	Parramatta	24	11	0	13	2	501	547	-46	26
12	Penrith	24	10	1	13	2	504	611	-107	25
13	Gold Coast	24	10	0	14	2	476	586	-110	24
14	South Sydney	24	8	0	16	2	453	666	-213	20
15	North Queensland	24	5	0	19	2	474	638	-164	14
16	Bulldogs	24	5	0	19	2	433	782	-349	14

Results

Round 1 15 March 2008	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	10 – 16	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Brookvale Oval
19:30	Tries: Anthony Watmough Michael Bani Goals: Matt Orford 1/2		Tries: Bryson Goodwin Brett Kearney Goals: Luke Covell 4/5	Attendance: 15,424 Referee: Jarred Maxwell

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Round 2 23 March 2008	Melbourne Storm	16 – 17	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Olympic Park
15:00	Tries: Russell Aitken Brett White Israel Folau Goals: Cameron Smith 2/3		Tries: David Simmons Brett Kearney Paul Gallen Goals: Luke Covell 2/5 Field Goals: Brett Kimmorley (1)	Attendance: 10,720 Referee: Tony Archer

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Round 3 29 March 2008	Gold Coast Titans	18 – 4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Skilled Park
20:30				Attendance: 19,050 Referee: Jason Robinson

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Round 4 5 April 2008	St. George Illawarra Dragons	16 – 18	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	OKI Jubilee Stadium
17:30	Tries: Josh Morris Lagi Setu Ben Hornby Goals: Mark Gasnier 0/2 Jamie Soward 2/2		Tries: Greg Bird Brett Kearney Bryson Goodwin Goals: Luke Covell 3/4	Attendance: 15,318 Referee: Sean Hampstead

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Round 5 14 April 2008	South Sydney Rabbitohs	10 – 12	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	ANZ Stadium
19:00	Tries: John Sutton Beau Champion Goals: Nathan Merritt 1/2		Tries: Greg Bird Luke Covell Goals: Luke Covell 2/3	Attendance: 12,988 Referee: Jason Robinson

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Round 6 19 April 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	20 – 21	Penrith Panthers	Toyota Stadium
19:30	Tries: Greg Bird (2) Lance Thompson Fraser Anderson Goals: Luke Covell 2/4		Tries: Nathan Smith Michael Jennings Michael Gordon Luke Rooney Goals: Jarrod Sammut 2/4 Field Goals: Jarrod Sammut (1)	Attendance: 13,852 Referee: Sean Hampstead

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Round 7 27 April 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	16 – 20	Wests Tigers	Toyota Stadium
15:00	Tries: Brett Kearney Brett Seymour Goals: Luke Covell 4/5		Tries: Chris Lawrence (2) Chris Heighington Brett Hodgson Goals: Brett Hodgson 2/4	Attendance: 17,241 Referee: Shayne Hayne

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Round 9 10 May 2008	North Queensland Cowboys	18 – 24	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Dairy Farmers Stadium
19:30	Tries: Mark Henry Carl Webb Luke O'Donnell Goals: Johnathan Thurston 3/3		Tries: Brett Kearney Fraser Anderson Luke Douglas Paul Gallen Goals: Luke Covell 4/5	Attendance: 17,065 Referee: Tony Archer

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Round 10 17 May 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	13 – 6	Brisbane Broncos	Toyota Stadium
17:30	Tries: Misi Taulapapa Brett Kearney Goals: Luke Covell 2/3 Field Goals: Brett Kimmorley (1)		Tries: Tonie Carroll Goals: Michael Ennis 1/1	Attendance: 13,431 Referee: Jarred Maxwell

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Round 11 26 May 2008	Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	30 – 22	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	ANZ Stadium
19:00				Attendance: 9,289 Referee: Tony Archer

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Round 12 1 June 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	32 – 14	Gold Coast Titans	Toyota Stadium
15:00				Attendance: 8,214 Referee: Ben Cummins

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Round 13 8 June 2008	Penrith Panthers	22 – 24	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Penrith Stadium
14:00				Attendance: 10,543 Referee: Jarred Maxwell

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Round 14 14 June 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	24 – 8	New Zealand Warriors	Toyota Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 9,023 Referee: Ben Cummins

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Round 15 22 June 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	16 – 14	Parramatta Eels	Toyota Stadium
15:00				Attendance: 17,547 Referee: Shayne Hayne

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Round 16 30 June 2008	Canberra Raiders	24 – 36	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Canberra Stadium
19:00				Attendance: 9,136 Referee: Sean Hampstead

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Round 18 12 July 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	6 – 34	Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles	Toyota Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 18,217 Referee: Jason Robinson

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Round 19 19 July 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	16 – 13	Newcastle Knights	Toyota Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 10,112 Referee: Tony Archer

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Round 20 25 July 2008	Brisbane Broncos	18 – 12	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Suncorp Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 27,905 Referee: Shayne Hayne

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Round 21 2 August 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	13 – 12	St. George Illawarra Dragons	Toyota Stadium
17:30				Attendance: 18,256 Referee: Jarred Maxwell

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Round 22 9 August 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	28 – 14	South Sydney Rabbitohs	Toyota Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 12,618 Referee: Ben Cummins

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Round 23 16 August 2008	New Zealand Warriors	18 – 4	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Mount Smart Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 10,417 Referee: Tony Archer

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Round 24 22 August 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	20 – 0	Sydney Roosters	Toyota Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 10,013 Referee: Jason Robinson

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Round 25 29 August 2008	Wests Tigers	6 – 32	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	Leichhardt Oval
19:30				Attendance: 10,766 Referee: Sean Hampstead

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Round 26 6 September 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	28 – 22	North Queensland Cowboys	Toyota Stadium
19:30				Attendance: 7,057 Referee: Ben Cummins

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Qualifying Final 13 September 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	36 – 10	Canberra Raiders	Toyota Stadium
18:30	Tries: Misi Taulapapa (3) Brett Seymour Luke Covell Ben Pomeroy Brett Kearney Goals: Luke Covell 3/7 Brett Kimmorley 1/1		Tries: Marshall Chalk Colin Best Goals: Terry Campese 1/2	Attendance: 18,252 Referee: Jarred Maxwell

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Preliminary Final 26 September 2008	Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks	0 – 28	Melbourne Storm	Sydney Football Stadium
19:45			Tries: Steve Turner (2) Israel Folau Adam Blair Matt Geyer Goals: Steve Turner 4/5	Attendance: 27,570 Referee: Tony Archer

References

1. ^ Five charged by NRL judiciary - leaguehq.com.au