Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan says the Sharks can win the NRL premiership even if they finish outside the top four.

With three rounds remaining the Sharks sit three points adrift of fourth-placed Manly and are struggling for form having won just one of their last six games.

A win over South Sydney on Saturday would assure them of a finals berth but a top four spot might be a bridge too far.

While stressing that the Sharks had not given up on making the all important top four, Flanagan said his side had shown this year they could match it with any other team in the competition.

“I would like to think we could win it from there (outside the top four),” Flanagan told AAP at Sharks training on Friday.

“We would like to think we will be there. At the moment we are concentrating on week-to-week, but there are some quality sides and not everyone can make that top four.

“And I’m sure that some of the teams that finish outside the top four can put their hand up.”

Canterbury’s 1995 team were the last side to win the premiership from outside the top four.

The AFL have been using the alternate top eight system the NRL has adopted for 2012 for over a decade.

In that time no team has won the title through the succession of knockout games that teams below fourth place face. But Flanagan said the Sharks are one of the sides who could do it this year.

“I don’t think anyone would say that if the Broncos finish outside of it, if the Cowboys finish outside of it, if we finish outside of it that we can’t beat teams in the top four,” he said.

“The Cowboys have done a great job to beat some of those teams in the top four. We have beaten some of those top four sides.

“To do it back-to-back four weeks in a row is going to be a test but with a bit of momentum and a bit of belief it can be done.”