Cronulla's next batch of leaders will need to step up and help them through the salary cap saga as judgement day approaches, according to Sharks premiership-winner Michael Ennis.
The Sharks are expected to learn the NRL's proposed punishments for cap breaches on Thursday after the club self-reported indiscretions last year.
There are already possible round-one implications, with James Segeyaro the last man signed and bench hooker Blayke Brailey recovering from a thumb injury sustained in Saturday night's trial win over Manly.
Neither rakes are expected to play in Saturday's trial against Newcastle, with young lock Billy Magoulias likely to take a spot on the interchange and play as a utility and come on for hooker Jayden Brailey if required.
At this stage it's unknown whether Blayke Brailey will be available for round one, while Segeyaro is believed to have been only provisionally registered by the NRL pending the outcome of the cap investigation.
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Other clubs are also believed to be eyeing off Cronulla talent if they are forced to release players.
Cronulla chief executive Barry Russell declined to comment when contacted by AAP on Wednesday.
But Ennis said the responsibility of lifting the team out of the doldrums and ensure they are focused on football would fall to the likes of Andrew Fifita, Matt Prior and Chad Townsend given a number of the Sharks older heads no longer at the club.
"Once they can get this cap cloud sorted then I think they will get an opportunity to move on. But until that happens it will be a distraction," Ennis told AAP at a Fox League launch.
"The challenge for the Sharks is they have been blessed in recent years with continued experienced, with (Paul) Gallen and Luke Lewis and James Maloney and (Wade) Graham.
"Lewis has retired, Maloney moved on, Graham's out for half the season and Gallen is 37 ... he's still contributing really well but coming into the back end of his career.
"Guys like Matt Prior, Townsend and Andrew Fifita - who showed some really good leadership qualities when he led the group last year - are going to have to galvanise the group."
"We've seen how important the start of the season is for everyone if they want to play finals, they can't afford to start slow."
The cap investigation has already cost the Sharks coach Shane Flanagan, with the NRL discovering he'd broken the terms of his 2014 ban stemming from the peptides saga when going through club emails.
