Cult hero Toby Rudolf is the latest Sharks star to weigh up an exit at the end of 2026 as the “last ride” motivating rugby league’s most settled roster threatens to break Cronulla’s points-scoring records.
French club Catalans has tabled Rudolf a lucrative three-year deal, though the Sharks will be given the chance to match the Super League outfit’s offer.
The Sharks will already farewell captain Cameron McInnes (York), former NSW Origin utility Siosifa Talakai (Perth Bears) and flyers Sione Katoa and Jesse Ramien (Cowboys) at the end of 2026.
Cronulla’s well-documented roster turnover – the Sharks started the season with 16 top 30 players off contract – has been a talking point all year as Craig Fitzgibbon’s side has shot into the top four.
Saturday’s 66-0 demolition of the Dolphins has lifted the Sharks’ average points per game to 29.25, which is third best behind front-runners Penrith (31.44) and the New Zealand Warriors (29.38).
It is easily their most productive attacking season on record, albeit in a year of increased set restarts and significantly more tries as a result.
Even before the 11-try blitz against the depleted Redcliffe side, the Sharks’ 26.8 points a game was close to their previous best – when they averaged 27.2 a game in 2024.
North Queensland-bound centre Jesse Ramien noted that Cronulla’s “last ride” theme is building momentum. He credited the Sharks’ attacking cohesion to the stability of the squad, pointing out that most players – especially those in key positions – have been working under Fitzgibbon since he took charge in 2022.
“When you’ve got a squad like ours that’s been together for a while, and then to have as many players as we do leaving this year, that does get spoken about among us,” Ramien said.
“It is going to be a last ride for a few of the guys together. And we’ve been together so long, it adds to it. You don’t want this to be another ‘what if’ year.
“We know we’ve got the squad that can win [a premiership]. We’ve built that here, but it’s about putting the performances in each week so at the end of the season we’re able to give it a red-hot crack”.
Rising middle forward Jesse Colquhoun is expected back from a knee injury for Friday’s top-eight clash with Newcastle at Ocean Protect Stadium.
Rudolf (30) and fellow off-contract prop Braden Hamlin-Uele (31) are also due back from knee injuries in coming weeks as well.
The Sharks have had regular talks with both players about their futures, though the understanding has always been that rival clubs could probably offer longer contracts than Cronulla.
The Sharks have won six of their past seven matches and continue to surge free of the top-eight logjam below them, with games against the Knights, Sea Eagles and Rabbitohs in the next three weeks.
For all their attacking firepower on show against the Dolphins, Cronulla’s first defensive clean sheet since 2024 was the most-treasured aspect of the biggest win in club history.
“Of course the zero is the biggest thing for us,” co-captain Cameron McInnes said.
“The Dolphins are a great attacking side with strike anywhere. But, at the end of the game, we had guys chasing back when it was 50-0 or whatever, and guys were fighting to keep that zero.
“At no point in that game did I sense anyone taking their foot off the pedal, so that’s the biggest thing for us to take out of that one.”
Dan Walsh is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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