Sharks continue to flounder

THE heat continues to pile up on Southport after the Sharks turned in another miserable performance in the NEAFL over the weekend.

For the third time this year the Sharks went down by a record margin when the Brisbane Lions swamped them by 27.14 (176) to 4.1 (25) at Fankhauser Reserve.

Against a Lions side that included 22 AFL-listed players the Sharks were never in the hunt, trailing by 50 points at quarter-time, by 82 at halftime and by 115 points at threequarter time.

In a season that has gone from bad to worse, the Sharks have slumped to their three heaviest defeats in 35 years of state competition.

In Round 2 they lost by 102 points to Sydney; in Round 10 the damage was a record 117 against the Gold Coast Suns who kicked the highest score (156 points) against them since 1983; yet those records were broken on Saturday with the 151-point losing margin and the 176 points against being the biggest in club history.

How much longer the Sharks’ hierarchy will continue to accept these on-field humblings remains to be seen but the club’s record for the past four seasons has been going from poor to worse.

Since the Nathan Bock-Jarrod Field (coach and football manager) combination started in 2015 the Sharks have won nine from 28. In the remaining eight rounds there may be some breathing space when the Sharks play Redland (away), Canberra twice (away and home) and injury-hit GWS Giants.