RICKY Stuart first told Cronulla chief executive Richard Fisk several months ago he was thinking of cutting short by a year his tenure at the club.

Fisk can't be sure of the exact date but others speculate it was shortly after a youthful Brisbane Broncos side beat the Sharks 44-16 in Round Six.

Co-incidentally, Brisbane is both favourite to secure Stuart's services and the Sharks' first opponent following Monday's announcement that he would be handing over the job to assistant Shane Flanagan next year.

"Ricky and I have been talking about it for some time, since much earlier in the season," Fisk told me. "No-one could understand the pressure Ricky was under, particularly last year.

"There has been the disappointment of defeat, getting the players up each week and falling desperately short on so many occasions. Ricky has been close to major burnout.

"It got to the point where I was very concerned about his well-being. Ricky got to the point where he needed to know there was an end in sight."

So what does it all mean? Probably that both Cronulla and Ricky Stuart are at a crossroads. From here, neither can afford to put a foot wrong.

Speculation about the Sharks' financial position just refuses to go away. They have appointed a coach from within because they felt he was the best man for the job - but also perhaps because they could not really afford to bring anyone from outside.

Make no mistake, Cronulla did not have the money to pay Stuart out had they chosen at some point in the next 18 months to sack him.

Flanagan has not exactly landed a plum job. If he is unsuccessful, he will struggle to get a start anywhere else. Unless he can defy expectations, Cronulla will sink further into the mire as other clubs agitate for salary cap concessions that will allow them to spend more and more than the Sharks can afford.

"We shouldn't cater to the lowest common denominator and refused to do something because this club or that club can't afford it," South Sydney's Shane Richardson has said.

Flanagan presides over Cronulla in its most important epoch.

Stuart's most sensible option would appear to be to accept a football manager's post alongside his former Canberra clubmate Ivan Henjak, in Brisbane, for now.

From there he can keep his options open about re-entering the NRL at the right time, at the right club.

He will have felt empowered on Tuesday morning. In 2008 he was forced to resign as Australia coach after abusing World Cup final referee Ashley Klein the morning after a famous defeat.

This week, he has departed a post on his own terms.