Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan and captain Paul Gallen have apologised to long-suffering Sharks supporters after a woeful performance in going down 34-16 to Brisbane in Friday night's NRL clash at Toyota Stadium.

A clearly frustrated Sharks hierarchy said sorry to fans of the club, which notched an eighth loss in nine games as the Broncos burnt off their State of Origin period fog by snapping a three-game losing streak.

"I feel like apologising to the fans because it wasn't good enough," Flanagan said after the six-tries-to-three drubbing.

"It was a poor performance by us and not acceptable."

Gallen added: "We probably have to apologise a bit to the fans, thank them for turning up. That's not good enough."

Cronulla all but conceded they had reached the crossroads in 2011, Flanagan vowing to address his side's inconsistency after a promising performance in last weekend's 14-8 loss to high-flyers Melbourne.

"I need to make some decisions now and it's probably decisions that we start looking to the future," he said.

"We've still got to win football games, that's the real important thing but I'll have that in mind when I pick some teams in the near future.

"The eight's probably looking a long way away at the moment but we're not giving up on our season, that's for sure.

"Maybe we haven't got the talent there of some of the other sides.

"I've got a player in Paul Gallen but I haven't got the halves, (players) in key positions."

There was no joy for workaholic NSW captain Gallen, who had hoped to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his NRL debut, while retiring Test skipper Darren Lockyer exited his final regular season game in Sydney a winner.

The Sharks were forced into a host of changes before kick-off, with fullback Nathan Gardner and prop Luke Douglas, who on Monday had been ruled out for six weeks with a knee injury, making unexpected returns.

But original fullback Isaac Gordon (knee), winger Stewart Mills (tonsillitis) and halfback Scott Porter (knee) were all ruled out with Toyota Cup No.7 Townsend making his debut in a side already missing another five regular first-graders.

Welcoming back Queensland stars Lockyer and Sam Thaiday, the Broncos had too much class, despite falling behind 4-0 early.

They hit the front in the 18th minute and were never headed as they convincingly ground out the convincing win in front of 14,436 fans after Lockyer and Thaiday had been rested following Origin I.

"For most of that second half we went out and did what we needed to do," was Broncos coach Anthony Griffin's summation.

Lockyer laughed off his final club game in Sydney.

"It's funny, I'll be back here next week (playing State of Origin)," he said.

"(I've got) some memories of coming to Shark Park, it's usually blowing a gale and raining."

Back-rower Alex Glenn bagged a first-half double, while Dale Copley, Corey Parker, Jack Reed and Gerard Beale also scored tries and Parker booted five from seven.

For Cronulla, Jayson Bukuya, Johnny Mannah and Colin Best scored tries with debutant halfback Chad Townsend booting two goals.

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