Even if the eighth-placed Sharks win their last two matches it might not be enough to land them a spot in the finals.
That's because they're only 14 differential points ahead of the ninth-placed Titans.
Firstly, they need to beat the Broncos on Saturday and then they maybe should think about trying to improve their for-and-against.
But beating the Broncos is far from a given, just ask the Warriors following Brisbane's deserved win on Sunday.
One thing the Sharks have in their favour is that the two team immediately below them on the ladder - Gold Coast and Canberra will have already played their round 24 matches when Cronulla step onto Suncorp Stadium. The Titans lost to the Knights on Thursday night, in a boost for the Sharks.
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The rundown
Team news
Sharks: Luke Metcalf and Braydon Trindall are expected to retain their positions in the starting side despite Matt Moylan's return a success last week.
Mawene Hiroti (hand) has been named as the replacement for winger Ronaldo Mulitalo (jaw) after being omitted 24 hours before the big win over Wests Tigers.
Connor Tracey retains his spot in the centres while Aiden Tolman returns from a one-match suspension via the interchange.
Kai O'Donnell is the 18th man. Jonaiah Lualua dropped out on game day after Billy Magoulias and Jenson Taumoepeau were trimmed from the squad in the 24-hour submission.
The Sharks have won only two of their past eight games at Suncorp Stadium.
Broncos: TC Robati starts in the second row in place of Jordan Riki (ankle), with highly-rated rookie Brandan Piakura to make his debut via the bench.
David Mead is the 18th man.
Cory Paix and Brodie Croft dropped out of the squad 24 hours before kick-off.
The Broncos have won seven of their past eight games against the Sharks as they eye back-to-back wins for the first time since round two last season.
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Key match-up
Toby Rudolf v Payne Haas. Rudolf just keeps on improving. He's quickly becoming one of the best young middle forwards in the NRL. In this game he can test himself against arguably the No.1 middle forward in the Telstra Premiership.
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Stat attack
They're now looking good to make the finals, but the Sharks still need to improve their tackling. Through 22 matches this season they've missed 828 tackles. That's the most in the NRL.
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