Canberra five-eighth Blake Austin said the retirement of former Sharks hooker Michael Ennis ended any rivalry between the two clubs, but someone clearly forgot to tell Raiders fans.
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The Sharks were greeted with an icy reception from scores of Canberra fans seeking vengeance for last year's semi-final defeat that ended with Ennis mocking the famed Viking clap.
Cronulla were greeted by a chorus of boos as they ran on to Canberra Stadium, while the Viking Clap could well have sent chills down the spine of Josh Hodgson as he led the Raiders out at home for the first time.
Young gun faces the old guard
Nick Cotric impressed in his first grade debut against North Queensland in round one, and plenty were keen to see the ball in his hand against the man he replaced on Canberra's left wing.
The young star was named Canberra's man of the match but in reality opportunities were limited and it was Edrick Lee's Sharks that got the better of the battle.
Cotric and the rest of the Raiders backline could have a big role to play with Joey Leilua failing to finish the game after a collision with James Maloney.
Wighton stars as Raiders run out of puff
Raiders fullback Jack Wighton was a standout for the Green Machine in the first half, the side's best player by a country mile in his first game of the season.
Wighton ran for a game-high 198 metres and turned Lee inside out to open the scoring for the hosts, but he played a lone hand for some time.
But round one's golden point game began to take its toll on the hosts, Cronulla rolling down field with ease in the second half as the Raiders struggled to get back onside.
The half-time margin of two points didn't look so bad, but conceding 30 second half points made for ugly reading.
Raiders shoot themselves in the foot
Addressing ill-discipline was high on Raiders coach Ricky Stuart's agenda this week after Canberra lost the penalty count 11-4 to the Cowboys in round one.
While much of the talk last week centred around the perceived lack of respect granted to Canberra by referees when the influence of Johnathan Thurston was thrown into the equation, they had no one to blame but themselves on Saturday night.
The Raiders trailed 12-10 at halftime and only had themselves to blame as ill-discipline and poor ball handling kept the Sharks in the contest.
The tide turned with the Raiders receiving six straight penalties leading into the final quarter of the match, but overcoming 12 handling errors was too big of an ask.
Past records count for nothing - will the crowds stick around?
Canberra might have gone within two wins of glory in 2016, but coach Stuart is the first to tell you past results count for nothing.
The fear is the fans might realise that too.
The crowd of 15,807 was Canberra's biggest for their first home game of the season since 2002, but after two consecutive losses the fickle Canberra crowds could stay away.
A Matt Prior try with 10 minutes left signalled the end for Canberra fans, flocking back to their cars in a bid to beat the traffic on the way home.
With their next two home games against sides that aren't expected to challenge for the premiership sandwiched by a trip to Brisbane, crowds could drop significantly leading into the colder months.
