The Sharks sit a game away from the Grand Final thanks to a wonderful season.
One of the main catalysts for said season has been their five-eighth Braydon Trindall.
Fresh off a best on ground performance against the Cowboys in last Friday night's Semi Final, Trindall has been quoted as saying he's "heading to November one".
Off contract at the end of the 2025 season, Trindall is set to be in hot demand. Especially should be be able to steer his Sharks past the behemoth that is the Penrith Panthers.
Below we look at five potential landing destinations for Braydon Trindall:
Although Trindall will wait to hit the open market, deservedly so, the Sharks will consider themselves front runners to retain his services.
Part of the Sharks 2018 Flegg Premiership winning team and then the Newtown Jets 2019 NSW Cup and State Champions, Trindall has been in the Sharks system for so long now.
The Sharks also stood by him earlier in the season when it looked as though they may actually move on from the talented yet troubled Trindall.
Trindall, supposedly on around $300,00- per season, is having a career best year. For what it is worth, my co-host and I awarded him our Sharks Player of the Year in 2024.
He has been instrumental for the Sharks on both sides of the ball.
Attacking wise, he has 12 tries, 18 try assists, 16 line-break assists and nine forced dropouts. In defence he has helped sure up the comically bad left edge that the Sharks endured in 2023.
Cronulla would be mad to let a few dollars get between them and Trindall's long-term signature.
My feeling is that he will instantly become the priority in the Shire.
Dan, You are a Cronulla supporter and know a lot about the Sharks, so perhaps you can explain where all the salary cap goes at that club.
I read, a week or two back, that out of the seventeen clubs’ first choice full backs, that William Kennedy is paid about the fifteenth.
No-one ever uses the words “Blake Brayley” and “big money” in the same sentence.
Nicho Hynes is on a million and Trindall is on about $300K (you reckon).
That’s a dirt-cheap spine for any club with aspirations to top-four and being competitive in the finals.
So tell me, where – in 2024 – did the money go ?
Who did Cronulla spend it on ?
And from where are they going to find a million for Addin Fonua Blake next season, and another half a million for Trindall in 2026.
By all accounts, Melbourne spend big on the spine; spend OK money on the next eight or ten, and have nearly everyone else on not much more than minimum wages.
Penrith seem to do the same, regularly letting guys go when their (cheap) contracts expire and they would have to be paid big rises to induce them to stay.
Sounds like the Sharks don’t understand the concept.