Few sporting organisations have a history of combining scandal and struggle like Cronulla, the NRL club seemingly on the brink extinction since the day it was conceived.

Blighted by financial instability and on-field futility, the Sharks have been the NRL’s laughing stock for years.

Even their own can’t help but point fun at their failings.

“Waiting for Cronulla to win a premiership is like leaving the porch lamp on for Harold Holt,” said former coach Jack Gibson, the man many considered was the best in the business.

But as the 2013 season dawned, it appeared Sharks’ fans might finally get a chance to turn out the light.

The long-mooted $300 million development that would offer financial security was about to get underway.

A recruitment drive that netted Luke Lewis, Michael Gordon, Chris Heighington and Beau Ryan to add to the likes of Paul Gallen, Todd Carney and Wade Graham gave coach Shane Flanagan a squad capable of challenging for the title.

The Sharks were on the verge of a new era – an era of success.

Then came the Australian Crime Commission bombshell into the use of banned substances by several NRL clubs, Cronulla being one of six named in the report.

This week, the spotlight was firmly on the Sharks, with revelations the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s (ASADA) investigations had led to as many as 14 players facing suspensions just days out from the season kick-off.

Had the land development not have been ticked off, this might well have proved the final straw for the embattled club, given sponsorships that would likely walk out the door if players had engaged in systematic doping.

But standing on the brink of doom is a proposition not foreign to this club and neither is the spectre of drug use.

In 2009, forward Reni Maitua was banned for two years for using a performance-enhancing substance.

That same year, revelations about a sex scandal involving a host of players – including Matthew Johns – on a 2002 trip to New Zealand also came to light, and chief executive Tony Zappia quit after an incident involving a female employee.

It was then revealed the club was struggling to pay off a $10 million debt, and it was generosity of the bank that allowed the Sharks to continue trading before the signing off of the long-awaited land redevelopment at the club’s Woolooware base.

The Sharks have proven many times their ability to come back from the dead.

It’s time for another resurrection out Cronulla way.