New coach Michael Maguire took the reins with much fanfare after a memorable year in charge of NSW but club football is different and Maguire is 47-87 in his last six seasons at club level.
Fitzgibbon has proven not only adept at getting the best out of the Sharks over the course of the regular season but in recruiting the biggest free agent names and he has struck again in bringing in the best prop in the NRL in Addin Fonua-Blake.
While Johnson and Harris were no doubt at the end of their storied careers, Fonua-Blake has been the best prop in the game over the last two seasons and his impact on the attack has been immense with no prop scoring more tries over that time.
The major question looming large over the Sharks this season is not whether this team is good enough to play finals football but whether it can take the next step and find themselves back on the grand final stage.
Arguably the most damaging player in the game when fully fit, the star Manly custodian has missed at least half of the season in four of the last six years.
