2006 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season

The 2006 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 40th in the club's history. They competed in the 2006 National Rugby League season.

2006 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season
NRL Rank13th
2006 recordWins: 9; draws: 0; losses: 15
Points scoredFor: 515 (88 tries, 81 goals, 1 field goal); against: 544 (96 tries, 80 goals)
Team information
CoachStuart Raper
Captain
StadiumToyota Park
Avg. attendance12,488
Top scorers
TriesDarren Albert (12)
GoalsLuke Covell (80)
PointsLuke Covell (192)
← 2005 2007 →

Season summary

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The off-season was highlighted by the huge but controversial signing of former St. George Illawarra Dragons favourite Lance Thompson who was let go by the Dragons due to salary cap issues and in-fighting occurring at that club.

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.

Ladder

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Pos Team Pld W D L B PF PA PD Pts
1   Melbourne Storm 24 20 0 4 2 605 404 +201 441
2   Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 24 16 0 8 2 608 468 +140 36
3   Brisbane Broncos (P) 24 14 0 10 2 497 392 +105 32
4   Newcastle Knights 24 14 0 10 2 608 538 +70 32
5   Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 24 14 0 10 2 534 493 +41 32
6   St George Illawarra Dragons 24 14 0 10 2 519 481 +38 32
7   Canberra Raiders 24 13 0 11 2 525 573 -48 30
8   Parramatta Eels 24 12 0 12 2 506 483 +23 28
9   North Queensland Cowboys 24 11 0 13 2 450 463 -13 26
10   New Zealand Warriors 24 12 0 12 2 552 463 +89 242
11   Wests Tigers 24 10 0 14 2 490 565 -75 24
12   Penrith Panthers 24 10 0 14 2 510 587 -77 24
13   Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 24 9 0 15 2 515 544 -29 22
14   Sydney Roosters 24 8 0 16 2 528 650 -122 20
15   South Sydney Rabbitohs 24 3 0 21 2 429 772 -343 10

1 The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches.
2 The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.

Club Awards

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References

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