Last season Shark Park was the fortress Cronulla built a premiership on.
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But at the moment it is looking anything but.
The Gold Coast Titans put in a heroic performance to win 16-12 at Southern Cross Group Stadium on Saturday night as the Sharks' patchy home form continued.
Cronulla only lost one game at home last season as they finished third after the regular season before going on to win their maiden premiership.
But this season has hardly been as convincing.
Opening losses to Brisbane and local rivals St George Illawarra were followed by a one-point win over strugglers Newcastle in which they just about fell over the line.
It was a strange performance from the Sharks, who looked in control for most of the game before the Gold Coast lifted in the final 15 minutes to surge home and score a gutsy four-point victory.
Cronulla were without Luke Lewis who was rested as a precaution due to hamstring tightness. That saw Jayson Bukuya start the game, with Sam Tagataese coming onto the bench for just his second appearance of the season.
Jarryd Hayne returned for the Titans having not played since suffering an ankle injury against Newcastle in round two. Gold Coast also welcomed back Konrad Hurrell and Kevin Proctor, while Tyrone Roberts shifted from fullback in place of Kane Elgey who was dropped.
Cronulla had not conceded a try for 169 minutes heading into the game but the Titans only needed six minutes to end that statistic. Gold Coast made the most of an Andrew Fifita error which gifted them field position, with Roberts ghosting past Paul Gallen and Chad Townsend to put the Titans in front.
The Sharks were not at their fluent best but, after five consecutive sets, they finally cracked the Titans' line. A shift to the left saw Ricky Leutele slide over in the corner to reduce the deficit to 6-4.
Gold Coast lost Chris Grevsmuhl to a shoulder injury just before the half hour mark after Townsend landed awkwardly on the back-rowers' outstretched arm.
Cronulla took the lead seven minutes before half-time thanks to a penalty try. Townsend, who signed a three-year contract extension with the club on Friday, ran to the line and put a grubber kick into the in-goal. Bukuya stormed through and looked almost certain to score, only for Dale Copley to wrap his arms around the Sharks forward as he stretched for the ball.
James Maloney's conversion gave Cronulla a 10-6 lead but the Titans could have been level at the break, only for Dan Sarginson to drop a bullet pass from Hayne down the short side that had Sharks winger Kurt Capewell beaten with the line wide open.
Gold Coast were down to a one-man bench shortly after half-time when they lost Chris McQueen to a second head-injury assessment and Copley to a back injury.
A Maloney penalty goal extended Cronulla's lead to 12-6 with 19 minutes remaining before the Titans began their charge.
Proctor led a short-side raid and put Hurrell through a hole with a delightful flat pass. Valentine Holmes came up with a one-on-one try-saving tackle but from the next play Hayne jumped out of dummy-half to put Leivaha Pulu over the line, with Holmes unable to come up with a second try-saver.
Taylor had the chance to get the Gold Coast level but his conversion attempt from wide out missed to the left.
The Titans began to surge over the top of Cronulla, with Capewell coming up with a try-saving tackle on Anthony Don on his opposite wing.
Gold Coast then took the lead with four minutes remaining. Pulu crashed over for his second when Townsend failed to clean up a kick in behind before the ball was flicked back off the ground by Joe Greenwood for Pulu to score.
Taylor showed nerves of steel to slot the conversion from the sideline to extend Gold Coast's lead to four points.
The Sharks had one more chance when they gained possession from the kick-off. But Don produced a miraculous play, scooping up a dangerous Maloney grubber kick before racing 30 metres across his dead ball line and crashing through a number of Sharks defenders to get back into the field of play and all-but secure a famous victory for the Titans.