The off-season was highlighted by the huge but controversial signing of former St. George Illawarra Dragons favourite Lance Thompson who was let go by the Dragons due to salary cap issues and in-fighting occurring at that club.
There were mixed results throughout the season, including two wins against the previous year's grand finalists North Queensland and a home win against the St. George Illawarra Dragons (its first against them since 2002), however after its round 16 away win against the Newcastle Knights in Newcastle everything started to fall apart with the Sharks, seemingly on their way to the finals, losing their last nine matches of the season.
By the season's end, the Sharks had fallen to 13th place (third-last) and coach Stuart Raper, knowing his time was up, was sacked.
1 The Melbourne Storm were later stripped of this minor premiership due to gross salary cap breaches.
2 The New Zealand Warriors were deducted 4 competition points due to gross salary cap breaches.