Johnson’s absence big finals blow for Sharks

The Cronulla Sharks will need to pull off a win against the Raiders this weekend, without their best player, to avoid going down as the worst finals team in NRL history.

No team in the NRL era, which dates back to 1998, has qualified for the finals without beating one of the teams in the top eight throughout the season. A loss to the Raiders on Saturday, without the injured Shaun Johnson, will see the Sharks create history for all the wrong reasons.

The Sharks’ record against the top-eight teams is far from impressive, notching an aggregate losing margin of 212-106 in the seven games played against the finals-bound sides. That’s an alarming average of 30.2 points per game conceded.

Cronulla have beaten the Titans, Cowboys andWarriors twice this season, also notching wins against the Tigers, Bulldogs, Sea Eagles,

Dragons and Broncos in their push for a finals berth. All teams that will play their last game of the year this weekend.

While no team in the NRL era has achieved what Cronulla are on the verge of doing, it has happened once before in a top-eight system.

North Sydney’s 11 wins in the 20-team 1995 competition, which saw the Bears scrape into the finals in eighth spot, all came against teams that didn’t feature in the playoffs.

Four other teams in rugby league’s 113-year history have also played finals football without wins against the top sides, however they were in top-four or top-five finals systems.

Johnson, the NRL’s leader for most try-assists (23), ruptured his Achilles tendon against the Roosters on Saturday, and was set to see a surgeon yesterday.