EXCLUSIVE: Phil Gould pinpoints 'confusing' issue sinking Sharks as poor form rolls on

League icon Phil Gould believes Cronulla's woes aren't as bad as they seem and suggested Sharks players have "got in their own heads".

As the club continues to struggle, calls emerged last week for coach Craig Fitzgibbon to move Nicho Hynes to fullback and Braydon Trindall into No.7.

After the Sharks' 30-6 loss to the Storm on Sunday – their fourth from five games – Fitzgibbon flat refused to entertain the idea of moving his big-money half.

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But calls for change have continued, and reports emerged this week the club had held crisis talks.

Gould has cautioned against rushing into wholesale changes.

"I thought their performance against the Storm was good. I thought it was much improved on what I'd seen in the previous weeks," he said on Wide World of Sports' Six Tackles with Gus.

"The Storm just found a way ... they scored an early try and then there wasn't much in it. I thought, 'Gee whizz Cronulla are fighting their way back into this'.

"I thought 30-6 was no real reflection on where Cronulla was."

But Gould said the reaction of the Sharks players was more indicative of their headspace.

"What I did see was signs of Cronulla ... 'here we go again'. It kind of went, 'Oh, you know, we've tried our backsides off and look what's happening, look at the scoreboard'," he said.

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"Then I think the scoreboard got into their head, and Melbourne were just too relentless for them – and Melbourne can do that. Melbourne can accumulate points out of nothing sometimes."

But Gould conceded the club's performance during the Origin period, when they haven't had players missing like their rivals have, was a head-scratcher.

They lost to a Roosters outfit without Angus Crichton, Connor Watson and Spencer Leniu 42-16 before Origin I.

After the round 13 bye, they lost to the Warriors 40-10 at home, and then beat the Dragons. They then lost to the Broncos 34-28 at Suncorp after Origin II, and then the heavy loss to the Storm last week.

"What's been confusing is that they haven't been affected by Origin, and they've been beaten some games where opposition teams were," Gould said.

"I think the Roosters had a lot of players out and beat them comfortably there a couple of weeks ago. That then lends yourself to ask: 'What's going on? Why isn't the team functioning as well as it should?'.

"Then you start looking at the body language between players and communication on the field – what we call connectivity, or how connected they are in big moments.

"I think it's a confidence issue at the moment ... you don't lose your ability, you lose your ability to think properly, and I don't think they're handling the thought process as well at the moment.

"(The Sharks) are a very, very talented football team. On their day, I still think they can beat anyone. They're still on eight wins ... it's not as though they've fallen off the face of the earth."

The Sharks currently sit 10th on the ladder with eight wins. Their attack is fifth-best in the comp with 366 points, but having conceded 370 points, their defence is 12th. No club higher on the ladder has conceded more points.

Gould said that stat was "very unlike Cronulla".

"They've been opened up in various ways in recent weeks, which I just haven't seen from them before," he said.

"Now what's causing that, it's not one thing, but there is an overriding feeling that they've kind of got down on themselves a little bit.

"They're looking for something to snap them out of it, when no one's going to. There's no cavalry coming here. There's no one going to come and do it for them. They have to do it themselves.

"They just need to dig in for that one game and get it done. I thought it was last week. I could see signs of it against the Melbourne Storm, they were just playing the wrong team on the wrong day."

He said what the Sharks playing group and coaching staff needed most right now was to lean on each other and block out the external noise.

"Perseverance is still the key. I think the coach is holding his nerve. I think he's got to trust them," he explained.

"It can all be turned around in one performance. I think they had the attitude to turn it around on the weekend, they just ran into the wrong team ... they'd have probably beaten most other teams from what I saw.

"The rumblings are there, and people are starting to critique them and pull them apart. Whether individuals are going to listen to the coach or listen to the coaches that are on the outside.

"We call it a circle of trust. They've just got to circle the wagons and trust themselves and trust in their own ability and trust in their teammates, pull it all together and grind out a win.

"That's really what they need to do. I thought they tried on the weekend, they just ran into the wrong team."

The Sharks have this week off, and then face the Dolphins at home on Friday week.