Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 2020 draw snapshot
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Here is all you need to know about the Cronulla Sharks' 2020 Telstra Premiership draw.
The Lowdown
Teams they play twice
Dragons, Cowboys, Storm, Sea Eagles, Knights, Bulldogs, Roosters, Tigers, Panthers.
Teams they play once
Rabbitohs, Broncos, Titans, Eels, Raiders, Warriors.
Day-by-day breakdown
Thursday - 3, Friday - 7, Saturday - 8, Sunday - 6.
Five-day turnarounds
3 (Round 17, Round 19, Round 21).
Kick-off
It's a big start for the Sharks, with their season opening against the Rabbitohs before regular sparring partners Melbourne are the first side hosted at their new digs in Kogarah. Newcastle and Canterbury round out their first month of 2020, with Cronulla enjoying four straight seven-day-turnarounds to start the year.
Five key match-ups
Storm (Round 2, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium; Round 19, AAMI Park): Cronulla love these games. Melbourne not so much. The Sharks have had the better of the niggling, nagging, grappling, griping and whatever else gets tossed up when the 2016 grand finalists clash. The Sharks are one of few sides with a good record against the Storm, claiming six wins from 10 games since 2016.
Sea Eagles (Round 7, Nestrata Jubilee Stadium; Round 18, Lottoland): The Sharks will be smarting from their last start in the Battle of the Beaches. A finals flop in Manly against a severely-depleted Sea Eagles side which ended Paul Gallen's career.
Panthers (Round 9, Carrington Park, Bathurst; Round 17, Nestrata Jubilee Stadium): Matt Moylan somehow saves his best for his old Penrith teammates. Coincidence? Sure, believe what you want. Usually pretty tight games too. Cronulla has won seven of their last eight against the Panthers, but four of those have been by a try or less.
Cowboys (Round 10, Sunshine Coast Stadium; Round 23, North Queensland Stadium): The expected return of Valentine Holmes from the NFL to North Queensland makes this one - not everyone at the Sharks was impressed with the timing of Holmes' exit last year. Cronulla's bashing up on Johnathan Thurston and Michael Morgan has also raised the temperature of these clashes in recent years.
Dragons (Round 14, WIN Stadium; Round 24, Netstrata Jubilee Stadium): Marching in and claiming a home ground for yourself while yours is under construction – not the worst way to spice up one of the game's favourite local derbies. Cronulla will call Kogarah home in 2020, just don't expect the red carpet to be rolled out by the Dragons.
Toughest stretch
Three five-day turnarounds in the space of a month - just when the wear and tear of an NRL season truly takes hold between July and August. Cronulla have drawn a couple of heavyweights in that horror run - Canberra, Penrith (on a five-day swing), Manly, Melbourne (again off a short lead-in), the Tigers and Bulldogs (the last of their five-day turnarounds) could make or break the Sharks in 2020.
And another thing
Cronulla's run home does at least provide relief if they survive the round 16-21 minefield. Of their final six regular-season opponents (Tigers, Bulldogs, Roosters, Cowboys, Dragons and Warriors) only the premiers played finals footy this year.
