Coached by Chris Anderson and captained by David Peachey and Brett Kimmorley, they competed in the NRL's 2003 Telstra Premiership.
The Sharks finished the regular season 12th (out of 15), failing to make the play-offs for the first time since 1998.
Cronulla, hoping to build on its past four seasons in which it made the finals, suffered a season of unrelenting disappointment which culminated in the dismissal of head coach Chris Anderson.
[1] Despite scoring first through Paul Gallen in the 18th minute, and only trailing 24–4 at halftime, the Sharks put in their worst ever performance which just got worse with captain David Peachey and Dale Newton taking the walk of shame and Danny Nutley being sin binned for pulling the leg of a Parramatta opponent.
Anderson was replaced during the off-season by Stuart Raper who had previous coaching experience with the Wigan Warriors.