No panic stations at Sharks despite downward spiral
Cronulla insist they are not panicking yet, despite losing four of their past five games and falling away in every key statistical category over the past month.
The Sharks suffered another setback on Monday with Sione Katoa sitting out training after delayed concussion symptoms from their loss to Canterbury.
The winger will now be subject to the NRL's 11-day stand-down policy, ruling him out of Friday's clash with Gold Coast in Coffs Harbour.
Cronulla remain well within the NRL's top four after their hot start to the season, but are also aware they must turn things around fast.
An analysis of the Sharks' past five matches shows they are making more errors, missing more tackles and running less metres per carry than in the club's first 10 games.
They are also scoring 11.5 points less per game and conceding 10.8 points more, while breaking the line two less times per match and breaking three less tackles.
Also notable is the fact Cronulla have gone from allowing eight offloads per game to 14, as teams create more momentum against their defence.
Still, players are adamant the situation is not as critical as the one win in five games suggests.
"When you put it that way it does seem pretty bad. But we're happy with where we're at," forward Jack Williams said.
"We're obviously not happy with those losses that happened.
"It's a week-to-week thing for us. Building consistency. Focusing on the style we want to play.
"We're definitely not in panic mode at the moment. We're sitting solid on the ladder, we're not panicking."
Players believe the issues stem largely from slow starts and poor patches in games, rather than an overall performance.
"It's just getting back to honouring our style of play and doing the little things right," second-rower Teig Wilton said.
"We haven't been too far off, but when we don't get a couple of things right, we compound our errors and lose our way a bit.
"Just managing that, and understanding if things are getting away from us, getting back on track quicker."
Both Wilton and Williams were quick to defend halfback Nicho Hynes on Monday, who again became the face of the club's golden-point loss to the Bulldogs.
Since starting for NSW in State of Origin I, Hynes has missed a sideline conversion to send a game against the Dolphins to extra time, been dropped by NSW and then missed a golden-point field goal against Canterbury.
"I'm not for (the scrutiny on him)," Williams said.
"It's hard seeing your mates get hounded. All we can do is get around him.
"What I see when he comes in here is he is happy. He works super hard.
"I think that motivates him to be honest. You don't want to poke the bear, because he will probably come out and do what he has done the last couple of years."
