Under the guidance of first-year coach Craig Fitzgibbon the Sharks rose from ninth to second in 2022 and sent a warning shot that they're a force to be reckoned with in the years to come.
A poor completion rate is one area Fitzgibbon will be determined to improve if the Sharks are to hunt down the second title in club history.
NRL.com highlights some key areas the Broncos will want to improve to get back into the finals in 2023.
Misfiring against big guns
The Sharks did a mighty job to finish second on the ladder in 2022 but their poor record against top-eight sides may well have cost them top spot. In nine meetings against sides who were in the top eight, the Sharks were victorious only four times. Three of those losses came in the first half of the season (Storm in round six, Broncos in round eight and Roosters in round 12) and the fourth was in round 19 against eventual minor premiers Panthers. The 4-5 stat against top-eight sides doesn't include the finals where they bowed out in straight sets to the Cowboys and Rabbitohs. Making a statement against fellow contenders is something the Sharks will want to do more often in 2023 if they're to challenge again.
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Completion rate/errors
The Sharks made 323 errors last season at an average of 12 per game. That's more errors than any club, including the Eels (289) and Rabbitohs (317) who played more games than Cronulla. They also had the lowest completion rate of 74.6 per cent.
Of most concern when it comes to errors is the final 10 minutes of matches, where the Sharks made 53 errors for the season, also the highest tally in the NRL. With games going down to the wire the Sharks error count mounted and is going to prove costly in tight matches.
The fact that the Sharks finished 2022 with the third best defensive record behind the Panthers and Cowboys shows how adept they were at covering up their errors and scrambling in defence but there's some areas they'll be keen to tidy up.
Run and stun
Depending on what sort of style you want to adopt then having the lowest number of dummy-half runs (119) may not be seen as an issue. It's clear the Sharks' No.9s were keen to move the ball on to irrepressible duo Nicho Hynes and Matt Moylan to let them do their thing so scooting out of dummy half wasn't always the option. To add some variety to their attack then a few more darts from Blayke Brailey could be the order of the day.
