2008 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season

Last updated

2008 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season
NRL Rank3rd
2008 recordWins: 18; draws: 0; losses: 8
Points scoredFor: 487 (82 tries, 78 goals, 3 field goals); against: 422 (74 tries, 62 goals, 2 field goals)
Team information
Coach Ricky Stuart
Captain
Stadium Toyota Stadium
Avg. attendance12,965
Top scorers
Tries Luke Covell (15)
Goals Luke Covell (73)
Points Luke Covell (206)
<  2007 2009  >

The 2008 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 42nd in the club's history. Coached by Ricky Stuart and captained by Paul Gallen and Greg Bird, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2008 Telstra Premiership, finishing the regular season 3rd (out of 16) to qualify for the finals. The Sharks then came within one game of the Grand Final but were knocked out by eventual runners-up Melbourne Storm.

Contents

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 an 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

PosTeamPldWDLBPFPAPDPts
1 Melbourne colours.svg Melbourne Storm 2417072584282+30238
2 Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (P)2417072645355+29038
3 Cronulla colours.svg Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2417072451384+6738
4 Eastern Suburbs colours.svg Sydney Roosters 2415092511446+6534
5 Brisbane colours.svg Brisbane Broncos 2414192560452+10833
6 Canberra colours.svg Canberra Raiders 24130112640527+11330
7 St. George Illawarra colours.svg St George Illawarra Dragons 24130112489378+11130
8 New Zealand colours.svg New Zealand Warriors 24130112502567-6530
9 Newcastle colours.svg Newcastle Knights 24120122516486+3028
10 Wests Tigers colours.svg Wests Tigers 24110132528560-3226
11 Parramatta colours.svg Parramatta Eels 24110132501547-4626
12 Penrith Panthers square flag icon with 2020 colours.svg Penrith Panthers 24101132504611-10725
13 Gold Coast Titans colours.svg Gold Coast Titans 24100142476586-11024
14 South Sydney colours.svg South Sydney Rabbitohs 2480162453666-21320
15 North Queensland colours.svg North Queensland Cowboys 2450192474638-16414
16 Canterbury colours.svg Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 2450192433782-34914

Results

15 March 2008Round 1 Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 10 16 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Brookvale Oval
19:30Tries:
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

23 March 2008Round 2 Melbourne Storm 16 17 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Olympic Park
15:00Tries:
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

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

5 April 2008Round 4 St. George Illawarra Dragons 16 18 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks OKI Jubilee Stadium
17:30Tries:
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

14 April 2008Round 5 South Sydney Rabbitohs 10 12 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks ANZ Stadium
19:00Tries:
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

19 April 2008Round 6 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 20 21 Penrith Panthers Toyota Stadium
19:30Tries:
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

27 April 2008Round 7 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 20 Wests Tigers Toyota Stadium
15:00Tries:
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

10 May 2008Round 9 North Queensland Cowboys 18 24 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Dairy Farmers Stadium
19:30Tries:
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

17 May 2008Round 10 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 13 6 Brisbane Broncos Toyota Stadium
17:30Tries:
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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

13 September 2008Qualifying Final Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 36 10 Canberra Raiders Toyota Stadium
18:30Tries:
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

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

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References

  1. Five charged by NRL judiciary - leaguehq.com.au [ permanent dead link ]