At least the sharks were in the contest for the resumption of their 2020 NRL season but after another week of turmoil off the field they went down 28-16 to the Tigers.
The average week off the field for Cronulla continued with halfback Chad Townsend leaving the field with 15 minutes remaining in Saturday's loss to Wests Tigers with a hamstring injury.
Sharks captain Wade Graham who showed some great skills in the game said they showed they can compete if they do the little things right but they fell away in the second half.
"We lost some momentum in the ruck with quick play the balls and some offloads which really hurt us and we couldn't get anything going in the second half which was frustrating"
Matt Moylan returned for the Sharks in an interchange role, though his inclusion was offset by the late withdrawal of star prop Andrew Fifita due to a calf strain.
A good start by the Tigers saw them surge to a 10 nil lead and it looked like it could be a long night for the Sharks who even had a Captains Challenge go against them.
Josh Dugan soon changed that, scoring a double in rapid fire putting the Sharks right back in the game and turned the momentum the Sharks way with Will Kennedy also chiming in to put some points on the board with his maiden NRL try.
The Veteran centre Dugan stepped up in Xerri's place, scoring two tries in his return from a knee injury that had some questioning his future in the pre-season.
The tide started to turn on the Sharks after another Tigers try saw the scores tied exactly mid way through the second half..
After trailing by six at half-time, Michael Maguire's men then held the Sharks scoreless in the second half on the way to collecting their second victory in three rounds.
The change of ends at the break didn't help the Sharks either and they couldn't buy a break through the Tigers tough defense.
Another four pointer by the Tigers heading into the final ten minutes saw the lead go out to 24-16 and it looked like it was another game that got away from a team that had a lot on its mind.
The Sharks final chance to get back into the contest was thwarted when a spilt ball took the pressure off as the clock ticked down for their third defeat of the season.
Benji Marshall rubbed some salt in the wounds in the final two minutes converting the tigers fifth try to put the game out of their hands 28-16
