| Year: | 1996 |
| League: | ARL |
| League Rank: | 5th |
| Cup: | Challenge Cup |
| League Wins: | 16 |
| League Draws: | 2 |
| League Losses: | 6 |
| Points For: | 441 (75 tries, 70 goals, 1 field goal) |
| Points Against: | 320 (55 tries, 48 goals, 4 field goals) |
| Ceo Title: | CEO |
| Coach: | John Lang |
| Captain: | Andrew Ettingshausen Mitch Healey Les Davidson |
| Stadium: | Shark Park |
| Avg Attendance: | 10,515 |
| Top Tries: | Ryan Metreson (47) |
| Top Goals: | Mat Rogers (59) |
| Top Points: | Mat Rogers (150) |
| Prev Season: | 1995 |
| Next Season: | 1997 |
The 1996 Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks season was the 30th in the club's history. They competed in the ARL's 1996 Optus Cup premiership and came within one match of the grand final.
| width=20 abbr="Position×" | width=175 | Team | width=20 abbr="Played" | Pld | width=20 abbr="Won" | W | width=20 abbr="Drawn" | D | width=20 abbr="Lost" | L | width=20 abbr="Points for" | PF | width=20 abbr="Points against" | PA | width=20 abbr="Points difference" | PD | width=20 abbr="Points" | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Manly-Warringah | 22 | 18 | 0 | 4 | 549 | 191 | +358 | 36 | ||||||||||
| 2 | Brisbane | 21 | 17 | 0 | 4 | 607 | 263 | +344 | 34 | ||||||||||
| 3 | North Sydney | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 598 | 325 | +273 | 32 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Sydney City | 22 | 15 | 1 | 6 | 521 | 321 | +200 | 31 | ||||||||||
| 5 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 21 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 399 | 268 | +131 | 30 | ||||||||||
| 6 | Canberra | 21 | 13 | 1 | 7 | 538 | 384 | +154 | 27 | ||||||||||
| 7 | St. George | 21 | 12 | 1 | 8 | 443 | 360 | +83 | 27 | ||||||||||
| 8 | Western Suburbs | 22 | 12 | 1 | 9 | 394 | 434 | −40 | 25 | ||||||||||
| 9 | Newcastle | 21 | 10 | 1 | 10 | 416 | 388 | +28 | 23 | ||||||||||
| 10 | Canterbury | 21 | 11 | 0 | 10 | 375 | 378 | −3 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 11 | Auckland | 21 | 10 | 0 | 11 | 412 | 427 | −15 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 12 | Balmain | 22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 319 | 459 | −140 | 22 | ||||||||||
| 13 | Parramatta | 21 | 9 | 1 | 11 | 404 | 415 | −11 | 21 | ||||||||||
| 14 | Illawarra | 22 | 8 | 0 | 14 | 403 | 444 | −41 | 16 | ||||||||||
| 15 | Penrith | 21 | 7 | 1 | 13 | 363 | 464 | −101 | 15 | ||||||||||
| 16 | Western Reds | 21 | 6 | 1 | 14 | 313 | 420 | −107 | 13 | ||||||||||
| 17 | North Queensland | 21 | 6 | 0 | 15 | 288 | 643 | −355 | 12 | ||||||||||
| 18 | Gold Coast | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 359 | 521 | −162 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 19 | South Sydney | 22 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 314 | 634 | −320 | 11 | ||||||||||
| 20 | South Queensland | 21 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 220 | 496 | −276 | 8 | ||||||||||