The 2008 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 42nd in the club's history. Coached by

Ricky Stuart Ricky John "Sticky" Stuart (born 7 January 1967) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach who is the head coach of Canberra in the National Rugby League (NRL) and a former rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1980 ...

and captained by

Paul Gallen Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and occassional professional boxer. He played as a and forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL to their maiden NRL Premiers ...

and Greg Bird, they competed in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

'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 The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...

Season summary

The Sharks began the season on a positive note, with a victory over 2007 runners-up

Manly Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

in Round 1 followed by a shock 17-16 victory over 2007 grand final winners

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 Cooper Patrick Cronk (born 5 December 1983) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An n international and Queensland rugby league team, Queensland State of Origin series, State of Origin ...

, resulting in both Ross and Melbourne's Brett White being sent off and later being referred to the

NRL Judiciary The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs. Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...

.Five charged by NRL judiciary - leaguehq.com.au
/ref> 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 Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

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 Brett Seymour (born 27 September 1984) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. His career has been marked with controversy with several claims of misconduct and violence towards women. Since retiring from professional rugb ...

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 Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

. 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 The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

36-10 at home with

Misi Taulapapa Misi Taulapapa (born 25 January 1982) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a or er for Goole Vikings in the RFL League 1. He has previously played for the New Zealand Warriors and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the ...

, a

Warriors A warrior is a guardian specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracy, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have been p ...

outcast scoring a hat-trick. Due to the

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 Cameron or Cam Smith may refer to: * Cammie Smith (Cameron Wilberforce Smith, born 1933), West Indian cricketer * Cam Smith (artist), British comic book artist * Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league player * Cameron S ...

was suspended a week earlier for a

grapple tackle A grapple tackle is a controversial tackling technique used in rugby league. It has gained notoriety in Australia's National Rugby League competition whereby the tackler attempts to impede the ball carrier by applying a chokehold-like grip. Alth ...

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Sam Thaiday Samuel Arthur Thaiday (; born 12 June 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League, serving as their captain from 2012 until 2013. An Australia national rug ...

Ladder

Results

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References

{{2008 in rugby league Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks seasons

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the Sutherland Shire of Southern Sydney, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. Cronulla compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugb ...