Cronulla chairman Damian Irvine has defended the Sharks' decision to continue to operate without a chief executive.

The NRL club were criticised following Saturday's clash with Manly at Toyota Stadium, with complaints fans had to wait for up to 40 minutes in the refreshments queue only to find there was nothing left to buy.

There was also a brawl between supporters towards the end of the game that led to a police officer injuring his ankle.

Irvine said the problems were regrettable, but denied it was down to the club not having a chief executive following Richard Fisk's departure last July.

"It was one-off and it doesn't reflect on the staff here and the hard work they are doing," Irvine told AAP.

"We have employed a new catering company and the problem with the food won't happen again.

"I am very sorry for the policeman, and I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery.

"But I think anyone who has gone to Brookvale or Leichhardt will have to line up for a while to get a beer. It is not ideal but we try our best, but to say that it happened because we have not got a CEO is just wrong."

Irvine said the club had not ruled out appointing someone to replace Fisk in the long run, but said paying a large salary would only hurt areas of the club that are already under-staffed.

"We have prioritised the areas we feel would be better served by bolstering and having another 'suit' is not in our best interests at the moment.

"Our football manager Darren Mooney is doing a fantastic job as is our commercial manager Peter Beaumont.

"To take on someone now would take away from their budgets and we don't want to do that as they are already stretched."

After two woeful seasons on and off the field, Irvine said there was light at the end of the tunnel thanks to current way the club is being run.

"We are in the top five in the NRL for membership growth and also for sponsorship and sales which takes in on-field real estateand advertising space," he said.

"We have also received worldwide exposure following the Keenan Cahill you tube internet campaign and that has been great for the club."

"We are not a huge organisation with a lot of money so we have to look at areas where we are already strong and can improve further."

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