However, legal costs surrounding a possible Greg Bird sacking, and a junior league fraud case, have many club insiders nervous about the future.

In the first of what is expected to be several cash crises among NRL clubs as the financial markets squeeze tighter, the Sharks have been waiting for an independent review of their lean operation before slashing costs.

They have borrowed $500,000 from the St George Bank, a long-standing tradition for the club at this time of the year when there are no gate receipts or sponsorship money coming in. But chief executive Tony Zappia said the internal review, conducted by sponsors PKF, was looking at the Sharks Leagues club operations following the impacts of poker machine and smoking legislation, and the football club operations in the wake of a possible cut to the annual grant from the leagues club. The Cronulla Sutherland Leagues club gives the football club $1.5 million a year, one of the smallest grants of all NRL clubs.

"This loan is not a knee-jerk reaction, we have always borrowed from St George Bank because the November and December time is quieter," Zappia said.

"We are very confident we have the cash to see us through to the new year and then we have sponsorship income that will come in. We are one of the few clubs that has retained its current sponsors - the major, sleeve and back-of-jersey sponsors are confirmed and we are in the process of locking in our medium-tier sponsors and ticket-holders for next season."

Zappia said there had been "hysteria" surrounding publicity about the club's bank loan, but stressed that while things were tight and there was a clear need for the club to be frugal, it was business as usual.

PKF is due to make its recommendations to the board in the next three to four weeks.

Fortunately for the club, it seems it will not be drawn into a fraud case involving a junior club official who has been accused of stealing more than $4 million from his employer and spending lavishly on the Cronulla Cobra team, which plays in the NSW Cup.

His alleged actions, from 1998 to 2008, were uncovered due to alleged discrepancies involving State of Origin corporate tickets during this year's series.

The NSW Fraud squad and his employers, have been looking at his financial links to the Sharks to try to recoup monies.

But it is understood the NRL club is financially removed from the case.

The club has received advice about the potential legal liabilities of its actions in relation to the disgraced player Bird, who has signalled he will take legal action if he is sacked without a payout.

NRL chief executive David Gallop said the Sharks had been in a tough financial position for some time and blamed the State Government. "This is a reminder of the impact of the government's poker machine tax and anti-smoking legislation," he said.

With Geesche Jacobsen and Andrew Webster