The Sharks' 2026 season has come to a difficult end after a valiant effort, down to 15 players for most of their semi-final defeat to the Roosters.
Cronulla lost Nicho Hynes to concussion within the first few minutes, then Mawene Hiroti to a PCL injury not long after, but they hung in as long as they could.
Braydon Trindall set up both the Sharks tries as he did all he could with an injured shoulder, and Addin Fonua-Blake broke the Roosters' line with every carry all night.
Sharks: Finals Week 2
It was a horror start for the Sharks as the Roosters scored with their first set of the game, and to make matters worse Nicho Hynes was sent for a HIA.
That woke Cronulla up as they swung momentum and went within an inch of scoring when Jesse Colquhoun reached out close to the line.
The tri-colours did more damage down the Sharks' right edge with another line break, then a cross-field kick found Daniel Tupou to make it 12 nil Roosters after 12 minutes.
As Hynes was ruled out with a Category 1, the Sharks also lost Mawene Hiroti to a knee problem, injured while superbly batting a ball back in field from a Braydon Trindall chip and earning his side a drop out.
With a mountain to climb Cronulla wouldn't give up, and from the next set Trindall set up Sione Katoa with a beautiful long ball to narrow the score. That would give Katoa the most finals tries in the club's history.
They'd make it even closer from the restart as Blayke Brailey began to wreak havoc thanks to some dominant middle forwards.
Brailey put Sifa Talakai through a gap before the fill-in centre was eventually brought down, but some slick play from Will Kennedy to find Trindall in space and the Sharks' half hit a barnstorming Ronaldo Mulitalo, who crashed over.
Trindall converted the try to somehow see the Sharks within 2 points, but that wouldn't last long as the Chooks hit back straight away through Daly Cherry-Evans to make it 18-10 after 29 minutes.
A brave Cronulla outfit battled away, repelling multiple Roosters attacking sets to only trail by 8 points going into the break, and the second half started the same way, with both sides taking their turn to attack and being held out.
It took an epic effort to break the black, white and blue, and that's what the Roosters produced with a razzle-dazzle try through many hands that pushed the score to 24-10 after 52 minutes.
Cronulla kept fighting and would have scored if not for a tri-colours trip which hindered Teig Wilton's efforts to score close to the line. The Sharks would get a penalty and another chance, but more last-ditch defence kept them out.
Playing for most of the match with just two interchange forwards due to injury eventually caught up with Cronulla after a valiant effort, and the Roosters ran in some extra tries to rub salt in 46-10.
Thus, ending the Sharks 2026 season and the tenure of a number of special club men.
Roosters v Sharks - Finals Week 2, 2026
