The Sharks were off from the season's first game (a 26-18 loss to Brisbane at home) and despite winning enough matches to surge into fifth by season's end, they never resembled the same force they were in 2016. When they did win, they won ugly, often scraping over the line despite playing well below what we came to expect last season.
A look at some important numbers provided by nrl.com - comparing it to the other seven teams to play finals in 2017 - suggests Cronulla was its own worst enemy this year.
DEFENSIVE WOES
James Maloney's sin binning for interfering with a kick chaser on Sunday - however much Flanagan disputed it - was symptomatic of the lack of discipline that infiltrated Cronulla this year.
Maloney has a reputation for being a repeat offender when it comes to giving away penalties (he gave away 36 this year) but he wasn't alone as the Sharks conceded 186 penalties in 25 games - the most of any side in the competition. Cronulla was one of only three teams (the others being Melbourne and Manly) to concede 180 or more penalties this season.
It also missed the third most tackles of top eight sides, slipping off attempted challenges 831 times. Manly (856) and Penrith (913) were the two worst offenders in this department.
PROBLEMS WITH BALL IN HAND
Losing fullback Ben Barba and hooker Michael Ennis from last year's grand final winning team meant Cronulla's potency with ball in hand was going to be tested, and that proved to be the case this year.
The Sharks made 283 errors in 2017 - the second most in the NRL behind only the Roosters (290). They averaged 51 per cent of possession in games, so the argument they made more mistakes because they spent more time with the ball than other teams doesn't wash.
More errors means Cronulla butchered chances to get into good field position or convert when it was in the red zone. That's partly why it scored the second least amount of points of any top eight side (490) with only North Queensland being less effective (scoring 482 points). Both these teams scored the equal least amount of tries of any finals team - 80.
The Cowboys have an excuse - key playmaker Johnathan Thurston played only seven games this year. While Cronulla missed players like Maloney, Wade Graham, Valentine Holmes and Andrew Fifita during the Origin period, their occasional absence wasn't nearly as debilitating as the loss of Thurston for Paul Green's side.
Cronulla also fell down in other key areas. The 10,465m it made from kicks was the lowest distance among top eight contenders and it made less tackle breaks (751) than any of its September colleagues bar Parramatta (698).
CRONULLA WAS WAY OFF AND FLANAGAN KNOWS IT
More than once this year Shane Flanagan rocked up to post-match press conferences admitting his team was lucky to escape with two points despite doing everything it could to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
After a 19-18 win over cellar dwellers Newcastle in Round 5 Flanagan said: "We should've put it to bed a couple of times and we were our own worst enemy.
"We dropped the ball over the line a couple of times, there were a couple of line breaks where we just couldn't find the right pass at the end."
Things still weren't going to plan for the Sharks when they defeated the Cowboys 18-14 at home in Round 11.
"All the players are having moments during matches but it's just not clicking at the moment," Flanagan said. "We were off in the first half - it just wasn't us."
And after a tense 24-22 win over finals no-hopers the Tigers in Round 15 Flanagan said: "We just couldn't get any consistency in our football. It was set for set and we let some real soft tries in. We had to work for ours and we let soft tries in.
"We made it hard for ourselves. There was stuff that wasn't us, tries from dummy half."
Winning ugly was a recurring theme for Cronulla this year (particularly in the first half of the season), as Flanagan's comments acknowledge. Though obviously not reflective of every match, they provide a snapshot of what was a frustrating year for the Sharks.
That they finished fifth despite being clunky for large parts of the season is a testament to their ability to grind out victories and overcome poor form to do whatever's necessary to win. In a way Flanagan's troops over-achieved.
So while the coach says referees cost the Sharks the game on Sunday, it's a game they were lucky to be playing in the first place. They don't need a whistleblower to find out who's to blame for season 2017 ending prematurely, they need a mirror.
