When the Sharks took the field during this week in 1967 for their very first match, nobody could have expected that exactly half a century later they'd be on the other side of the world battling the English Super League champions for global supremacy!
On Friday, February 24, 1967, Cronulla ran onto Redfern Oval for their first game against fellow newbies the Penrith Panthers in the opening round of the Wills Cup, a pre-season tournament conducted by the NSWRL from 1962-1981.
The match was played as part of a double header featuring Balmain and South Sydney in the earlier fixture. By the time Cronulla and Penrith took the field for the 7:30pm kick off, over 18,000 people were jam-packed into the small suburban ground.
The Sharks side that night was led from the front by skipper Monty Porter and included many of the players that would feature a few weeks later in the first round of the premiership, including Brian Cox, Dave Cooper and future Rothmans Medal winner Terry Hughes.
Unfortunately, Cronulla lost the match 18-12. Try scorers on that night were Jack Danzey and Terry Hughes. Hughes also kicked three goals.
Fifty years later, in that same fateful week, the Sharks took on the Wigan Warriors in the 2017 World Club Challenge.
The team that took the field in the north of England had a number of key changes from the one that claimed the club's maiden premiership a few months earlier.
Michael Ennis had retired, Sosaia Feki was ruled out through injury and strike weapons Ben Barba and Valentine Holmes were both stood down for off-field incidents.
Reliable outside back Gerard Beale started at fullback with utility forward Kurt Capewell and youngster Jesse Ramien on the wings.
Wigan took an early lead with winger Joe Burgess scoring out wide.
Capewell looked to have scored midway through the first half when he grounded the ball just inside the touchline, only for the video referee to rule part of it touched the chalk.
And this was pretty much the trend for the rest of the game as the usually clinical and resilient NRL champions lacked discipline and poise.
Cronulla could have scored early in the second half on the back of a 40-metre break from barnstorming forward Sam Tagataese, but the short in-goal areas cost Cronulla with Fa'amanu Brown's grubber beating a despairing Andrew Fifita over the dead-ball line.
Against the run of play, the Warriors extended their lead through Oliver Gildart, who brushed off grand final hero Jack Bird to score, before Cronulla finally broke their duck on 58 minutes through debutant Ramien.
James Maloney converted to make the score 16-6 and give the Sharks a glimmer of hope of rolling the English champions.
But Cronulla rarely challenged thereafter as Wigan defended resolutely and the Sharks continued to make simple errors. The game ended 22-6 with those that made the trip over left to lament the missed opportunity.
Lead image: Terry Hughes on the charge for the Sharks in the opening round of the 1967 Wills Cup.
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