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NRL news: Cronulla Sharks returning to their spiritual home in 2022
After two years playing at the same ground as staunch rivals St George Illawarra, the Sharks have confirmed they will be heading home next season, but there will be restrictions.
David Riccio
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Cronulla are headed back to their spiritual home of Shark Park in 2022.
The club has confirmed that their two-year existence at Kogarah’s Jubilee Oval — the home ground of staunch rivals and ‘big brother’ St George Illawarra — is over.
In a letter to members on Wednesday, Sharks chief executive Dino Mezzatesta confirmed the club would return to their suburban ground under the direction of
new coach Craig Fitzgibbon.
The Sharks’ return to PointsBet Stadium at Woolooware next year will include restrictions on crowd numbers due to the ongoing $20 million development of the Sharkies Leagues Club.
An atrtist’s impression of how the Cronulla Sharks precinct at Woolooware will look when completed.
News Corp understands the Sharks are preparing to host 10 home games with a capacity crowd of 12,000, just below the Sharks’ crowd average of 12,141 during their most recent season there in 2019.
Cronulla moved all their home games from PointsBet Stadium for the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the major refurbishment of their adjoining Leagues Club.
A revamped club will be the centrepiece of a new commercial-retail precinct bringing further revenue to Cronulla’s coffers.
There will be no major upgrade of PointsBet Stadium.
The construction works adjacent to the playing field has suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the building industry.
Completion has been delayed until 2023.
Given the delay in the build, there were fears within the Sharks’ fanbase that management would extend their ‘home away from home’ existence at Jubilee Oval.
However, the Sharks board and management have spent the past five months designing a spectator safe, albeit restricted precinct, that will allow them to host NRL matches next year.