Cronulla halfback Todd Carney says the Sharks quickly recovered from the disappointment of Sunday’s controversial NRL golden-point loss to Wests Tigers, in order to begin preparations for their home clash with Newcastle.

The Sharks were dudded on a crucial decision in golden point which led to Tigers five-eighth Benji Marshall kicking the game-winning field goal, when Cronulla should have had a scrum feed on their opponent’s tryline.

But Carney said coach Shane Flanagan urged them to erase the heartbreaking loss as quickly as possible so that it didn’t snowball into a form slump to begin the season.

“We spoke about that after the game and Flanno made that clear that it was all dead and buried after we finished the game,” Carney said on Thursday.

“We can’t dwell on that going into Newcastle because teams have done that in the past.

“You (have to) let that go now and work for Newcastle. And that’s what we’ve done.”

Cronulla’s opponents on Sunday, the Knights, also suffered a round-one golden-point loss, giving both sides almost identical preparation for the clash.

“They had a tough game against the Dragons – everyone’s the same,” Carney said.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s 80 minutes or 90 minutes, everyone endures the same sort of physical (toll).”

Carney said neither side would take a great deal from the fact they played each other less than a month ago, in both clubs’ final trial match – which the Knights won at the death thanks to a Timana Tahu try.

“We watched a little bit of video on it but obviously teams change,” Carney said.

“We feel we’ve come a long way since that trial and I’m sure they have too. It will be a good test.

“… That’s a bonus for us that we played them in the trial. They’re going to throw the same (at us) as what they did against the Dragons and what they did in the trial.”