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Cronulla's interim coach Josh Hannay says he's proud of the way the Sharks have dealt with a tumultuous season to still be fighting to play NRL finals.

For the first two months as Cronulla's interim coach Josh Hannay questioned every day whether this NRL season would amount to anything.

He never doubted the resilience of the playing group, nor their positive attitude, but the odds were stacked against them.

When John Morris was unceremoniously sacked as coach after two wins in five games, Hannay was thrown into the deep end with a young team and a tough draw.

The casualty ward included two of the biggest names at the club in Shaun Johnson and Wade Graham.

Starting with a 26-22 loss to Newcastle in round six, the Sharks lost five straight games to slip to 14th on the ladder, and in the minds of most, out of finals contention.

Until they turned a corner that Hannay knew would come eventually.

Ahead of Saturday's clash with Brisbane, Hannay admitted there were times he thought they might not be so lucky to be fighting to play finals this season.

"Only every day for the first two months that I took over," he laughed.

"It was a tough period when I stepped into the role and we had our really tough part of our draw ... three weeks in a row we played Melbourne, Penrith and the Rabbitohs and we were dealing with a lot and dealing with injuries and putting out a team that wasn't our best side and changing up how we wanted to play.

"There was a lot of change going on.

"But I could never fault the way the players came to work and there was never any sense that they'd given up or it was all a bit too hard.

"They just kept coming to work and doing what was asked of them. With that, we started to get some troops back.

"I was always confident we'd turn a corner, how much we were improving or how many games we'd win I wasn't sure, but I knew we'd turn a corner of sorts.

"I do have to take my hat off to the playing group for the position we've got ourselves into where we do have a top-eight spot to play for."

The eighth-placed Sharks need to keep winning against the Broncos and then Melbourne in round 25 to play finals, with Gold Coast and Canberra chasing them on the ladder.

But the way the players have stayed motivated to keep their season alive has inspired Hannay to bring his best every week too, knowing what is possible come play-offs.

Hannay was assistant at North Queensland in 2017 when they snuck into the finals in eighth spot and went on an incredible winning run to make the grand final.

"I know strange things can happen once you get to the finals and if you can get on a run, it doesn't really matter where you finish," Hannay said.

"We've got two big weeks ahead of us."