Sharks hit back after NRL fixture uproar as Broncos carnage rocks finals race
Fitzgibbon's men come up against St George Illawarra in a local derby at Jubilee Stadium on Saturday, and the Sharks could leapfrog the Broncos, Panthers and Warriors into fourth spot if other results go their way. Cronulla would need the Knights to spring an upset at home to reigning premiers Penrith on Friday night and for the Bulldogs to take care of the Warriors in the final game on Saturday night.
But regardless of what transpires this weekend, Cronulla's fixtures in the run home have them earmarked as a genuine contender to finish the season in the top-four. Across their final five games of the regular season, the Sharks won't have to travel outside of Sydney once. They also have a guaranteed two competition points from an upcoming bye and play only one other current top-eight team - the Bulldogs - in round 27.
Cronulla's seemingly favourable run of fixtures comes after years of accusations that the Sharks often benefit from 'soft' draws. And after hearing fresh rumblings around their end-of-season schedule, a frustrated Fitzgibbon hit back at the criticism. He pointed out their brutal start to the season, which included the equal-most games against last year's top eight and tricky road trips to Las Vegas, Townsville, Perth and Melbourne.
Sharks coach slams 'disrespectful' claims about 'soft' draw
"With all due respect to that getting spat out, we've had one of the hardest draws in recent history (this year)," the Sharks coach. And Fitzgibbon says a number of recent upsets should be enough proof that there is no such thing as a 'soft' draw in the NRL.
Cellar dwellers the Titans shocked the fourth-placed Warriors a couple of weeks ago in round 21, and almost sprang another upset against Penrith last week. The Eels also stunned the Broncos in round 21, while the Tigers belted the third-placed Bulldogs last week to jump into 11th spot on a congested NRL ladder.
"The bottom teams are beating the top teams at the moment so how do we sit there and say the draw is favourable, when one slip and you're in trouble? The competition is so tight, it's so close," Fitzgibbon added. "I think it's disrespectful to your opponents sometimes. Look at the Titans in the last couple of weeks. There's been a lot of teams playing really good footy across the whole competition."
It's why Fitzgibbon is approaching Saturday's match against the Dragons with extra caution, following the Red V's own upset victory over ladder-leaders Canberra last week. But with top-four rivals the Warriors and Broncos both ravaged by injuries to key players, it's opened the door for Cronulla to take advantage.
Triple injury blow rocks Brisbane's finals hopes
Brisbane's finals hopes were dealt a crushing blow in Thursday night's 22-2 loss to the Storm, with halves Adam Reynolds and Ezra Mam, and winger Selwyn Cobbo all suffering hamstring injuries. Viewers were left in disbelief as Reynolds and Mam both went down in the same play during the first half as Storm winger Xavier Coates took an intercept and raced downfield.
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Cobbo became the third Broncos star to leave the game with a hamstring injury after being helped from the field in the second half. All three are having scans to determine the extent of their injuries, but the trio will almost certainly face multiple weeks on the sidelines in a massive blow to Brisbane's hopes of remaining in the top-eight.
Unbelievable scenes with both Adam Reynolds & Ezra Mam suffering hamstring injuries on the one play - a turn & chase on Xavier Coates.Both high speed mechanisms & noticeably limping - likely multi-week recoveries incoming & as we've seen with other similar cases recently could… pic.twitter.com/5697FBRKVq
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) August 7, 2025
Selwyn Cobbo also left the field after suffering a hamstring injury - the 3rd one of the game for the Broncos.Even minor hamstring strains often result in a 2-4 week return to play, so another likely looking at a multi-week recovery. A brutal night for Broncos hamstrings. pic.twitter.com/UcjMTZAyG2
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) August 7, 2025
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