Official 2024 NRL Sharks Draw

[Shortfin Mako]

We have 18 games with a 7 day plus turnaround, the second most of any team. This is brilliant.

Our bitching about the Broncos finally worked.

 

[bort]

Feel like I once read you nominate 5 teams you’d like to play twice, and in order of priority
NRL then tries to match you up vs them for two games
If they put you too it’s gunna be a much bigger chance of success

Assume we always put Dragons 1 and Manly 2

 

[Mr Ryan]

The thing is, the draw back in the 90's used to be based on where you finished. In a 16 team comp they would set the draw with 22 rounds everyone would play each other once ins rounds 1-15, and then in rounds 16-22 teams would play teams either from the "even" or the "odd" finishing positions. E.g. if you finished 4th, you would play teams 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 a second time. The teams all pretty much had free reign of their venues too, so the league could dictate the times without having to share. Clean, simple and fair.

It hasn't worked like that for a long time though. Most teams play in shared venues that need to work around other events, and teams want to play certain opponents twice because of rivalry and crowd numbers, and they know which teams don't draw a crowd so ask to avoid having them at home. No matter where they finish on the ladder the Sharks and Dragons will always play each other twice, same for the Bunnies and Roosters, the Dogs and Eels, all of the Qld teams playing each other, the Titans getting a home game against the Warriors, and so on...

The draw being fair, even or equally difficult for all teams is not even a consideration these days. All of those other things are way more important.

The other thing that has changed since 94 is the annual Anzac, Good Friday games, that have those teams playing each other at the same time of the year, every year.

 

[BurgoShark]

Feel like I once read you nominate 5 teams you’d like to play twice, and in order of priority
NRL then tries to match you up vs them for two games
If they put you too it’s gunna be a much bigger chance of success

Assume we always put Dragons 1 and Manly 2

Whole league puts Tigers #1 right?

Yeah - that would be my assumption. Only one Manly game next year though.

 

[stormshark]

Glad the press, pinpointing our forwards needing to step up next yr. Injury free we might go ok. Would've liked to play Manly twice. Warriors away out of sight, helps us break the Game 1 Hoodoo imho.

 

[bort]

Whole league puts Tigers #1 right?

Yeah - that would be my assumption. Only one Manly game next year though.

Be if us has bumped the tigers up our list then!

I think only the weakest teams would prioritise any on their list for also being weak, I think a team expected to be competitive will will prioritise games that will bring crowds and attention (and thus money)

No idea if this system or a variant is still in use though

 

[Proud Shark]

Haha.

I'd expect us to be better than this year for sure, but I don't think top 4 is an absolute must in relation to if Fitz is a good coach, or not.

The more I think about our draw the less I like it. We need to be playing the better teams to improve.

Agreed. There are way too many variables in a season to put a pass or fail mark based on the draw.

Like others have mentioned, we could still yet match up against better teams. Souths, Cowboys and Titans could all take another step up and be finalists without much surprise, and we play them all twice.

I actually quite like it. We have a relatively reasonable first 9 rounds, then go into a very tough 5 game stretch. Gives us time to work out our combinations and how we're playing, then really put ourselves to the test.

Post that, we have another calmer period around Origin 2/3 and then finish the year with a few tougher match ups in Warriors, Manly, Souths, Cowboys, even Newcastle. These are good sharpen up/test games, without having to always be up at finals quality prior to finals. I'd be happy for one more Penrith/Brisbane game in that last month, but outside of that I think it's pretty close to perfect.

 

[Sparkles]

Turns out Bard is a Sharks fan:

Based on the Cronulla Sharks NRL team's draw for the 2024 season, I predict that they will finish in the top 4. They have a relatively easy draw, with only a few tough games. They should be able to beat the Warriors, Bulldogs, Wests Tigers, Raiders, Dragons, Cowboys, Titans, and Knights. They may struggle against the Rabbitohs, Storm, Roosters, Panthers, Eels, and Broncos. However, I believe that they have a good enough team to beat these teams on their day.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of their draw:

• Round 1: Warriors (win)
• Round 2: Bulldogs (win)
• Round 3: Wests Tigers (win)
• Round 4: Raiders (win)
• Round 5: BYE
• Round 6: Rabbitohs (loss)
• Round 7: Cowboys (win)
• Round 8: Raiders (win)
• Round 9: Dragons (win)
• Round 10: Storm (loss)
• Round 11: Roosters (loss)
• Round 12: Panthers (loss)
• Round 13: Eels (loss)
• Round 14: Broncos (win)
• Round 15: Dolphins (win)
• Round 16: BYE
• Round 17: Bulldogs (win)
• Round 18: Titans (win)
• Round 19: Wests Tigers (win)
• Round 20: BYE
• Round 21: Cowboys (loss)
• Round 22: Rabbitohs (win)
• Round 23: Titans (win)
• Round 24: Knights (win)
• Round 25: Dragons (win)
• Round 26: Warriors (win)
• Round 27: Sea Eagles (win)

Overall, I think the Cronulla Sharks have a good chance of finishing in the top 4 in the 2024 NRL season. They have a relatively easy draw and a good enough team to beat most of the teams they play.

 

[MrDravid]

Haven't looked at every team but Broncos have
bye, game, game, bye in origin period then round 24
Cows have the same origin period split, then round 25.

Those are pretty nice for sides with big origin numbers and then a little break near the back of season

Not to mention the Broncos last 10 rounds go:

18 - QLD (Suncorp)
19 - QLD (Suncorp)
20 - NSW (Newcastle)
21 - QLD (Suncorp)
22 - QLD (Gold Coast)
23 - QLD (Townsville)
24 - Bye
25 - QLD (Suncorp)
26 - QLD (Suncorp)
27 - QLD (Suncorp)

 

[Vichyssoise]

You'd expect Penrith, Brisbane and Melbourne (they always find a way) to be there again.

Souths have a lot of improvement in them.

I think people over estimate us, not sure our team is that good.

I don't think it is either, especially since there's no incoming player who might at the very least bring a different mindset.
But with that team Fitz achieved a Top 4, 2 years ago. That draw is really easy on paper so no excuses.
That said, I'd rather us finish 5th and win a couple of finals games instead of the misery with been forced to witness the past 2 seasons.

 

[bort]

Based on the last two seasons I just think people estimate us
Will beat up on little guys, will struggle in big games, have a lot of little guys in our draw. Make 8 comfortably, crash out.
Don't see anyone predicting anything else

 

[Born&bred]

Turns out Bard is a Sharks fan:

Based on the Cronulla Sharks NRL team's draw for the 2024 season, I predict that they will finish in the top 4. They have a relatively easy draw, with only a few tough games. They should be able to beat the Warriors, Bulldogs, Wests Tigers, Raiders, Dragons, Cowboys, Titans, and Knights. They may struggle against the Rabbitohs, Storm, Roosters, Panthers, Eels, and Broncos. However, I believe that they have a good enough team to beat these teams on their day.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of their draw:

• Round 1: Warriors (win)
• Round 2: Bulldogs (win)
• Round 3: Wests Tigers (win)
• Round 4: Raiders (win)
• Round 5: BYE
• Round 6: Rabbitohs (loss)
• Round 7: Cowboys (win)
• Round 8: Raiders (win)
• Round 9: Dragons (win)
• Round 10: Storm (loss)
• Round 11: Roosters (loss)
• Round 12: Panthers (loss)
• Round 13: Eels (loss)
• Round 14: Broncos (win)
• Round 15: Dolphins (win)
• Round 16: BYE
• Round 17: Bulldogs (win)
• Round 18: Titans (win)
• Round 19: Wests Tigers (win)
• Round 20: BYE
• Round 21: Cowboys (loss)
• Round 22: Rabbitohs (win)
• Round 23: Titans (win)
• Round 24: Knights (win)
• Round 25: Dragons (win)
• Round 26: Warriors (win)
• Round 27: Sea Eagles (win)

Overall, I think the Cronulla Sharks have a good chance of finishing in the top 4 in the 2024 NRL season. They have a relatively easy draw and a good enough team to beat most of the teams they play.

Who the **** is Bard?

 

[Wiz]

I don't think it is either, especially since there's no incoming player who might at the very least bring a different mindset.
But with that team Fitz achieved a Top 4, 2 years ago. That draw is really easy on paper so no excuses.
That said, I'd rather us finish 5th and win a couple of finals games instead of the misery with been forced to witness the past 2 seasons.

Couple of things we should unpack ;

We have had a soft draw the last 2 years, anyone else who says otherwise is lying to themselves ..

The real problem is Fitz does think this team is good enough to challenge for a trophy hence re-signing literally all of them ; I agree that our team isn’t that strong but mainly because our forwards are very inconsistent and our half in Hynes needs alot more polish to ice games as a properly structured halfback and that’s also a coach/culture problem

If we do not go deeper then we have been in the finals next year then it’s a massive failure

 

[Capital_Shark]

Who the **** is Bard?

Its reads like AI

 

[Sparkles]

Who the **** is Bard?

It's the Google AI. C'mon B&B, get with the times

 

[Sparkles]

Couple of things we should unpack ;

We have had a soft draw the last 2 years, anyone else who says otherwise is lying to themselves ..

The real problem is Fitz does think this team is good enough to challenge for a trophy hence re-signing literally all of them ; I agree that our team isn’t that strong but mainly because our forwards are very inconsistent and our half in Hynes needs alot more polish to ice games as a properly structured halfback and that’s also a coach/culture problem

If we do not go deeper then we have been in the finals next year then it’s a massive failure

I.... Agree

 

[Gards]

Whether you are a bad team, a middle of the road team, a good team or an Top 2 team, I don't think your draw and who you play throughout the season is going to determine the inherit quality of your side vs. the inherit quality of another side or club.

It will more or less balance out and run it's course over the season and ladder position ends up being a reasonable reflection of your teams quality and success that year.

Good teams will win more games regardless of opposition, bad teams will lose more games regardless of opposition.

I can't really think of many grand final teams that didn't deserve to be there due to a favorable draw (Parra in 2022??). Brissy had a soft draw last year but deserved to be in the GF as they were clearly the best team alongside Panthers.

Storm prob didn't have an easy draw but made Top 4 anyway cause it's what they do. Some strong teams shat the bed and didn't even make finals, that's on them not the draw.

Teams at the bottom of ladder just had bad years and played poorly, it wasn't their draw. Middle table teams had well mixed results and form throughout the year, again it was who they were are as club and how they played in 2023, not their draw.

Soft draw might help you pick up a few extra wins and climb higher on the ladder than you otherwise might have but it's relative cause there will also be a team with a hard draw that somehow over achieves against the odds. Then you have a decent team that has a soft draw that falls apart and losses games than they were suppose to win dropping them down the ladder.

All comes out in the wash and teams get found out in the finals series. Soft draw might help sharks build confidence, momentum, bring in more fans ect. but as he have seen last 2 seasons it only helps so much leading up to top table quality opposition (which if anything we need more games and practice against)

Having said all that, whoever at the Sharks in the past was willfully nominating 2 games against the Sea Eagles needs to be walked off the plank. This clash did not draw good crowds and was essentially putting your hand up for an extra guaranteed loss every season lol

At least we aren't their bitches lately anymore but also they have got pretty crap

 

[bort]

We’re simultaneously a team other fans are talking down for having an east draw while also happy to consider us a hard game on their own draw

 

[bort]

Having said all that, whoever at the Sharks in the past was willfully nominating 2 games against the Sea Eagles needs to be walked off the plank. This clash did not draw good crowds and was essentially putting your hand up for an extra guaranteed loss every season lol

I should note I have no idea who any club was nominating, just that it was mentioned as a system that was being used. And it was quite a while ago so may not be in use now, but I guess makes as much sense as anything with NRL draw.

 

[Sparkles]

Whether you are a bad team, a middle of the road team, a good team or an Top 2 team, I don't think your draw and who you play throughout the season is going to determine the inherit quality of your side vs. the inherit quality of another side or club.

It will more or less balance out and run it's course over the season and ladder position ends up being a reasonable reflection of your teams quality and success that year.

Good teams will win more games regardless of opposition, bad teams will lose more games regardless of opposition.

I can't really think of many grand final teams that didn't deserve to be there due to a favorable draw (Parra in 2022??). Brissy had a soft draw last year but deserved to be in the GF as they were clearly the best team alongside Panthers.

Storm prob didn't have an easy draw but made Top 4 anyway cause it's what they do. Some strong teams shat the bed and didn't even make finals, that's on them not the draw.

Teams at the bottom of ladder just had bad years and played poorly, it wasn't their draw. Middle table teams had well mixed results and form throughout the year, again it was who they were are as club and how they played in 2023, not their draw.

Soft draw might help you pick up a few extra wins and climb higher on the ladder than you otherwise might have but it's relative cause there will also be a team with a hard draw that somehow over achieves against the odds. Then you have a decent team that has a soft draw that falls apart and losses games than they were suppose to win dropping them down the ladder.

All comes out in the wash and teams get found out in the finals series. Soft draw might help sharks build confidence, momentum, bring in more fans ect. but as he have seen last 2 seasons it only helps so much leading up to top table quality opposition (which if anything we need more games and practice against)

Having said all that, whoever at the Sharks in the past was willfully nominating 2 games against the Sea Eagles needs to be walked off the plank. This clash did not draw good crowds and was essentially putting your hand up for an extra guaranteed loss every season lol

At least we aren't their bitches lately anymore but also they have got pretty crap

This soft draw thing is going to embarrass a lot of people this year. Probably our side the most, unfortunately. The number of competitive sides is only going to increase.

The narrative is, as usual, completely at loggerheads with last years narrative of it having been the closet competition ever. I'd predict that while the top sides will still cling on to the top positions, we'll see the start of a real changing of the guard.