Australian coach Tim Sheens is a likely target for Cronulla if coach Shane Flanagan receives a similar ban to the one imposed on Essendon's James Hird after ASADA tables its report into drug protocols at NRL clubs.
Fairfax Media revealed on Sunday that the report, which the Australian Rugby League Commission is due to receive on December 11, may include recommendations on sanctions against clubs, coaches and medical and training staff.
Hird received a one-year ban from the AFL for bringing the game into disrepute over the supplements program at the club last year under the guidance of Stephen Dank.
Dank was at the Sharks in 2011 – the first year of Flanagan's NRL coaching job – and hypothetically the ARLC could charge him with bringing the game into disrepute in that he allowed the controversial sports scientist to introduce the supplements program.
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If Flanagan were to receive a ban, Sheens would be an obvious replacement and he has a close relationship with Cronulla chief executive Steve Noyce, with whom he worked at Wests Tigers.
Sheens has been out of a club job this year but the four-time premiership-winning coach has had a huge boost after devising the game plan for the Kangaroos' comprehensive World Cup final victory.
He was cagey about his future after Australia's 34-2 defeat of New Zealand at Old Trafford on Saturday but said in a recent tour during the World Cup that he wanted to return to coaching in the NRL if an opportunity arose.
While Sheens' role with the Kangaroos has effectively been subsidised by Wests Tigers as the club is yet to reach a financial settlement on the remaining two years of his contract, it is unlikely Australia will have a full-time coach next year.
As the newly crowned world champions left Manchester on Sunday after celebrating through the night, many were aware that the doping scandal that plagued the game all season might be about to conclude.
More than 30 players and members of the coaching staff from a variety of clubs have been interviewed by ASADA officials, and are now awaiting their fate.
Most of the Kangaroos squad are looking forward to a break but Parramatta captain Jarryd Hayne was already focused on next season under new coach Brad Arthur.
"We are looking for a huge year, and I have been speaking to Brad every week," Hayne said. "He has just been tipping me up about the boys and how they are going.
"They are training well and he is really enjoying being a head coach for the first time. He had got a lot of ideas and he is excited.
"I knew him before, and obviously with him being the coach and me being captain we have got to have a good relationship."
