Glenn Coleman will remain Cronulla chairman unopposed at the upcoming board election, although Sydney Kings star Damian Keogh still has a chance of joining him as a director.
Keogh, a member of the Sharks Unity ticket, has been ruled ineligible to contest the chairmanship because he is only a leagues club member and must also be a football club member to stand for the chair. The ticket was considering a legal challenge but is likely to abandon that avenue.
Under the rules of the constitution, four of the highest vote-getting leagues club members join the board, as do the four highest polling football club members. As only two of their contenders are football club members, the best possible result for the Sharks Unity ticket is six of their eight nominees making it to the board.
Coleman is heading up a ticket of his own comprising incumbents Craig Douglas, Peter Kerr, Phil Tiernan, Greg Holland and new addition Matt Hartley, the boss of Empire Glass. All up, the final board will be comprised of a chairman, a vice-chairman and seven others.
The Sharks Unity ticket had argued the eligibility of some of their contestants to also qualify as football club members but Coleman - who under the constitution has the final say as chairman on eligibility disputes - said he would not overturn the three sets of legal advice he has received on the matter.
With Cronulla legend Mark McGaw also heading up a three-man ticket of his own, it appears the most likely outcome at the ballot box is that no one ticket will prevail and the new board will be a mix of factions, potentially sprinkled with some stand-alone candidates.
''Regardless of the ruling, we're still pressing ahead at full steam with the Sharks Unity ticket,'' Keogh said. ''We're still focused; we spent a lot of time looking at strategic plans and different things we want to do. There's good community support for what we want to do. It's going to be an interesting election period.''
Coleman said he understood that fans were frustrated with the recent sacking of four key staff members as part of the drugs-in-sport fallout, but believed it was the only decision possible on the legal advice provided. ''I've been focusing on getting the place going with the right people,'' Coleman said. ''I'm happy to work with anybody who is elected.''
McGaw, who played 155 games for the Sharks, has run three businesses since retiring, including the Mark McGaw Institute of Sports Science.
The man known as ''Sparkles'' said his experience in sports science, and football knowledge, made him ideally placed to lead Cronulla through its most troubled period.
''We need sensible business practices which lead to the strength of the financial position of the club,'' he said.
