The club also equaled their biggest ever victory with a 46–0 thrashing of Western Suburbs as well as breaking their highest points tally in a match with the 56–18 defeat of North Sydney.
It was reported in February that the club was planning on building a resort, worth somewhere in the region of $50 million, near their home ground in order to secure their long term position in the competition.
[2] The season kicked off on 7 March with an impressive 44–0 victory over the Balmain Tigers at Shark Park with two tries from Sean Ryan as well as tries to David Peachey, Mat Rogers, Brett Howland, Chris McKenna, Andrew Ettingshausen and debutant Jason Ferris.
[3] However, more importantly for Cronulla, the match marked the return of captain Andrew Ettingshausen from a career threatening neck injury which had seen him sidelined for approximately eight months.
Canterbury hooker Jason Hetherington was charged with a dangerous tackle on his opposite number Dean Treister which ruled him out of contention for the Anzac Test.
Both hookers, Shannon Donato from Cronulla and Sean Garlick from South Sydney, were sent to the sin bin by referee Bill Harrigan after an altercation between the two erupted.
Chris McKenna and Martin Lang also played a part in the match for Queensland and Jason Stevens for New South Wales but there was no spot for fullback David Peachey.
Tries from Russell Richardson, Andrew Ettingshausen and Sean Ryan couldn't prevent Newcastle from sending forward Paul Harragon out on a winning note in his farewell game.
[17] Referee Tim Mander and touch judge Paul Field were later dropped from officiating at first-grade level due to their failure to take appropriate action in regards to both the Smailes and Stevens incidents.
[18] The suspension for Stevens cost him a place in the New South Wales side and he was replaced by Michael Vella for the final two matches of the State of Origin series.
Cronulla defeated North Queensland 22–8 in the round 14 clash at Dairy Farmers Stadium thanks to two tries from Russell Richardson and tries to Andrew Ettingshausen and Sean Ryan.
North Queensland centre Damien Smith became the first player since round 1 to be sent off after referee Bill Harrigan gave him his marching orders for a high tackle on Colin Best.
[20] However, Sydney City forward David Barnhill was sent off just minutes later after a dangerous tackle on Dean Treister which would see him ruled out of contention for the State of Origin decider.
[21] The following match saw Cronulla back to winning ways with a convincing 32–4 victory over Manly at Shark Park despite the absence of key forwards Martin Lang, Jason Stevens and Chris McKenna.
[22] Tries to Sean Ryan, Nick Graham, Brett Howland, Colin Best, Shannon Donato and Andrew Ettingshausen capped off a magnificent display.
Two tries to Adam Dykes and Colin Best as well as tries to David Peachey, Sean Ryan, Paul Mellor and Brett Howland helped Cronulla ease to victory.
Hat-tricks to both David Peachey and Andrew Ettingshausen, a double to Brett Howland as well as tries to Adam Dykes and Chris McKenna sealed what was a record breaking scoreline for the club.
[3] However, it was to come at a cost with centre Russell Richardson, who had only recently extended his contract with the club, breaking down with a recurrence of a knee injury that would see him sidelined for around five weeks.
A double to David Peachey in his 100th game for the club as well as tries to Colin Best, Andrew Ettingshausen, Brett Howland, Paul Mellor and Mat Rogers helped guide Cronulla to an important victory.
After sealing the minor premiership, the players at the club offered to give up their share of the prize money if it would help retain the services of Jason Stevens.
Several days prior to the game Stadium Australia chief executive Chris Chapman announced that Andrew Ettingshausen was to be the rugby league ambassador for the venue.
[29] Despite winning both of their previous meetings earlier in the season, Cronulla were eliminated from the competition after losing the preliminary final 24–8 against bitter rivals St. George-Illawarra.
Despite the loss of Mat Rogers to a badly corked thigh early in the half, Cronulla appeared to be heading towards their first Grand Final since 1997 after a try to fullback David Peachey had given them a slender 8–0 lead going in at half-time.
[30] On 30 September, Shane Webcke was ruled out for the Australian tri-nations squad after failing a medical and was replaced by Cronulla prop Jason Stevens.
[31] Mat Rogers was also called up to the Australian squad after his impressive season and centre Russell Richardson was rewarded for his performances after he was given his Test debut for Australia in the opening match against New Zealand.