Cronulla fans must think things can hardly get worse. Let's hope they're right.

Already battling to stay afloat in the face of mounting debt, the Sharks took a big hit when rugby league's latest group sex scandal erupted last week.

Then came Saturday night's 26-22 NRL defeat to Penrith at CUA Stadium, an eighth straight loss which cemented Cronulla's position at the foot of the ladder.

The only way it could possibly get much worse would be total disintegration, a situation not beyond the realms of possibility given the club's perilous financial state.

The club's coffers received another knock this week with reports of a number of sponsors withdrawing their support following the storm of bad publicity over the group sex incident on the club's 2002 pre-season trip to New Zealand.

Few are doing it tougher than skipper Paul Gallen who, as the only current player at the club in 2002, came under intense scrutiny over his knowledge of the Christchurch incident, which he said he took no part in.

The pressure of the week showed on Gallen's face after the Panthers loss, when the Test lock took the blame for yet another defeat.

"It had nothing to do with what happened on the field tonight," Gallen said when asked about how tough the build-up had been.

"I almost shoulder that loss on my own - it wasn't a par performance on my part and yet some of our players had their best games ... blokes like myself can't afford a game like that with the position we're in."

Sharks coach Ricky Stuart defended Gallen, who had gifted Penrith a try with a pass straight to Geoff Daniela who ran away to touch down.

"He does take it hard, he's hard marker on himself ... but if Paul Gallen's not playing in this football team we're getting beaten by a lot more points that what we have been," Stuart said.

"He's one of the most inspirational people I've coached."

On the field, Stuart claimed the Sharks weren't far from nabbing a win.

They certainly played with more flair against the Panthers and were a big show late in the game when Anthony Tupou scored two tries to close the gap to two points against a 12-man Penrith side which had lost skipper Petero Civoniceva to the sin bin.

In the end they paid for the missed opportunities early in the game, particularly the first seven minutes when two clear-cut opportunities went begging.

"Our last pass has cost us so many tries, so many tries. It's just that last pass," Stuart said.

"It's obviously a skill thing but we've recognised it and we're working really hard on those areas.

"But I think when you are down on confidence, when things aren't going your way such as the victories, they just pile up on top of one another and become worse and worse.

"Basically we've lost five games this year where if we could eliminate a soft try and score one ourselves, we would have won those games.

"That's how close we are, yet it doesn't show that on the ladder."

"I just get really despondent and disappointed for the boys because they just bust a gut week in and week out, they're really trying.

"It hurts to be in the position we are in and it hurts to see them hurting."

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