Cronulla boss Barry Russell has moved to ease the pressure on the Sharks' playing squad, stating the club's salary cap probe isn't link to current players.
The club is under NRL integrity unit investigation after Russell self-reported salary cap irregularities which he discovered when he took over earlier this year.
It's a massive distraction which threatens to derail their campaign for a second premiership in three years.
However he distanced the group from the problem, saying the undisclosed third party agreements relate to 2015 and the player involved is no longer at the Shire.
"The issues or discrepancies that I disclosed do not relate to any of the current playing squad - it relates to issues some years ago," Russell said.
"I'm working with the NRL very closely, I have been for months, I've provided full disclosure, I've allowed the integrity unit to come in and download information from our server and any other information or hardware they required.
"We have nothing to hide. I want to get to the bottom of any issues or discrepancies, which I believe we're doing. The investigation is ongoing and we will continue to co-operate with the NRL."
NRL CEO Todd Greenberg on Wednesday said that the Sharks were this year $500,000 below the salary cap and denied their participation in the 2018 finals would come into question.
Russell described the club's finances as robust, pointing to the residential development adjoining Southern Cross Group Stadium.
The potential salary cap infringements came to light after Russell launched a full governance review when he took over six months ago.
He found a potentially illegal third party deal from 2015 after going through the club's books and alerted the NRL.
The club won its maiden premiership the following year and he said he couldn't speculate on whether further problems could be uncovered by a forensic probe.
While bullish about the Sharks' chances of remaining competitive this year, he expected the matter to linger throughout the finals.
"I envisage this investigation will go through until the off-season," Russell said.
"I haven't got a timeline - there is a lot of data to work through, so that does take time.
"Our club is being fully co-operative but our priority at the moment is for our playing squad to just remain strong, focused on the final series.
"And I believe we have every chance to really give this competition a good shake. The squad's trained well, this is not affecting them."
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