Cronulla's boss Tony Zappia says the embattled NRL club has 18 months to turn around its dire financial plight before the possibility of extinction becomes reality.
Zappia's startling time frame came on the back of a crisis meeting with the major sponsor LG Electronics in Sydneyyesterday.
The Sharks instigatied the talks due to negative publicity generated by the 2002 Christchurch group sex scandal.
Cronulla's financial woes - believed to include a debt in excess of $12 million - worsened late last week when two sponsors pulled support worth almost $150,000 a year in response to last week's television program describing the antics of Sharks players in New Zealand.
