NRL: Stuart to quit as Sharks head coach

Ricky Stuart. Photo / Supplied

Cronulla assistant Shane Flanagan will take over as Sharks head coach next season after Ricky Stuart announced he would quit at the end of this NRL season.

Stuart claimed it was the right time for him and the club to part ways, with the Sharks agreeing to a release from the final year of his contract in 2011.

The Sharks have had a horrid 18 months with the club lurching from one off-field drama to the next, while they have hardly fared better on the field with Cronulla having won just eight of their past 34 matches.

For Flanagan, who was Stuart's assistant at the Sydney Roosters before the duo came to Cronulla at the start of the 2007 season, the role will be his first head-coaching appointment.

Stuart said he was keen to coach again in the NRL, but denied he had spoken to any other club as yet.

"The decision at this time was right for me and the club," Stuart said.

"I'm over the hardest part and that was just then talking to the players.

"We've got a really close bond, they're a great group of players ... it was difficult talking to the players and telling them of my decision.

"I think the time's right, it's right for me to go out and look at some new challenges and I think the timing is also certainly right for the club."

Flanagan, who has a contract for the 2011 season with an option in the club's favour for 2012, said it had been a whirlwind few days given he has also been tied up with the NSW Origin side in his role as assistant to coach Craig Bellamy.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity," he said.

"I've worked for this for a number of years."

- AAP