The Cronulla Sharks haven't got off the best start this season, they've kind of picked up where they left off last year to be honest. I've been pretty critical of them over the first two weeks, mainly because, well I've been critical of them pretty much all of the off-season because they somehow found a way to snatch all the media attention despite not really doing a whole lot.

They signed Ben Barba and it felt like everyone had just wiped 2014 from their memories, as well as 2013. But the Sharks need perfectly suits Barba's current style and there's plenty of room for the Sharks and Barba to grow. The Sharks definitely won't make the top 8 ... obviously they could but I think they along with the Raiders, Knights, Titans and Dragons will end the season setting up shop outside the top 8, looking in.

I'll start with Barba because there's been a whisper that he's going to shift to fullback with Michael Gordon jumping to the wing in a bit of a backline shuffle. Obviously that's unconfirmed so we can only speculate but it was interesting to hear Barba speaking to Peter Sterling last night, he seemed to genuinely enjoy playing in the 6 jersey and I don't think it matters too much where the Sharks play him.

Personally, I'd like him to play at fullback because he's got a bit more panache than Gordon but Gordon has been very good out the back so far this season (and last season). So we'll assume that Barba is at 6 for the purpose of this masterpiece of writing skillz. Barba also told Sterlo that he enjoys the defensive aspect of playing at 6 which is a bonus.

They key for Barba here is Jeff Robson. Robson plays the typical halfback role, controlling the game and doing most of the kicking as he made 6 kicks to Barba's 1 kick in round one and then made 10 kicks to Barba's 3 in round two. That's perfect as it's what Robson is best at, there's many teams that would benefit from a solid half who can allow their halves partner to chill out a bit with the pressures of running the team.

While Barba hasn't been super impressive in the first two rounds, he's showing positive signs. Two try assists against the Raiders in round one and he saw his touches on the ball increase from 33 to 37 as well as the times he ran the ball 4 to 7. He also made 4 tackle busts last week compared to none in round one. While these numbers can definitely be put down to circumstance, there is at least improvement which is handy.

Barba hasn't been helped by the form of Gerrard Beale who hasn't made the right decisions too often, but there's only really one option for Beale - improvement. Barba also has Jayson Bukuya playing on his edge and he's earning a living running holes which suits Barba's game because Barba can run the ball his first few touches to set up the defender and then he can hit Bukuya, or he can flip that and pass on his first few touches and run later on. The arrival of Luke Lewis who has been named as 18th man, meaning there's a chance he plays this week but that he should definitely feature in the coming weeks is also beneficial. Lewis should play on that right edge and I can see him and Barba striking up a very funky combination.

The best opportunity for the Sharks to cross the line against the Broncos came from a play the ball in the middle of the field with Barba at first receiver. His first move is to run, which is perfect and the play is drawn up perfectly with Paul Gallen sliding out wider to run a decoy and Bukuya picking the ball up to hit the gap outside of Gallen. Peep how Gordan is the decoy out the back, usually you'd expect the ball to go to him, but we're seeing these sorts of plays this season and Bukuya is the perfect player to execute it.

I'd like to see Barba play with a bit more freedom and I think this goes hand in hand with the Sharks getting a few troops back from injury. The Sharks have Ricky Leutele who has looked dangerous so far this season and Wade Graham out on the left edge, so it would be good to see Barba scoot across field. run at defenders and then get these guys the ball with defenders on the back foot.

Having Lewis nearing a return will ensure that Barba can venture away from his edge and the Sharks will still have a ball player out on that edge, in fact they'll start to look like a poor man's Rabbitohs with Lewis and Graham both comfortable wearing the ball playing hat.

The Sharks looked extremely battler-ish in the first two weeks thanks to having too many forwards of a similar nature. Matt Prior started at prop, Chris Heighington would come off the bench and Tinirau Arona would do the same. They are all decent NRL options, but they lack punch and any sort of fear factor. This week they welcome back Sam Tagatese who will partner Andrew Fifita in the front row and there's no reason to think that they won't get the Sharks more front foot ball. Prior is solid, but Tagatese can punch holes in the defensive line and he can Fifita can play off of each other as well as allowing their back line more opportunities.

The blueprint for a solid forward pack is there. Paul Gallen does what he does, they have two big, mobile front rowers who run hard starting the game, they have an edge back rower with the skills of a half on one edge and a solid ball runner on the other edge with Lewis to come back. David Fifita has looked like an NRL prop, he and Matt Prior should come off the bench as middle men while Anthony Tupou is low key looking dangerous as well. Someone has to drop off the bench for Lewis though and while I'd like it to be Heighington, it will probably be David Fifita.

Both the tries the Broncos scored were down to luck, more than great attack or bad defence and the Sharks will grind away with the best of them. Their attack though will take time but we're at least seeing that they have more weapons than they did a few years back when they went deep into the finals thanks to their rugged nature.

Valentine Holmes has been given a run early in the season which is great, he's got plenty of spark but needs to get more ball with more space. I suspect we might see him roam a bit more, be given a bit more freedom to go get the ball in the middle and create something. Leutele and Sosaia Feki have been great on the left edge while Beale just has to get better.

If the Sharks can stay healthy and get their best team on the field, they're going to be a very tough team to match up against. With Shane Flanagan as coach, the Sharks have always been a team that won't be easily dominated up the guts and they now have a few more attacking weapons to play with. The next few weeks for the Sharks sees them play the Storm, Titans, Roosters, Kinghts and Rabbitohs. They'll be targeting wins against the Titans and Knights. If they can match the Storm, Roosters and Rabbitohs with effort and enthusiasm, anything could happen.

I don't think any NRL team is going to look forward to playing the Sharks, you'll get beat up and the opportunity for an 'upset' will always be there.