Cronulla skipper Trent Barrett is free to play in Saturday night's match against Manly despite being charged with tripping by the NRL match review committee.

Barrett was handed a grade one charge for his 62nd-minute trip on Newcastle halfback Jarrod Mullen in Sunday's 21-10 loss to the Knights at EnergyAustralia Stadium.

But the charge attracted only a 75-point penalty, while even loading from a prior offence failed to push it beyond the 100-point mark at which a ban kicks in.

Barrett is expected to announce this week that this will be his last season in the game, his career set to end in first week of September with the Sharks unlikely to feature in the finals series.

The Sharks have won only five of 16 games this season, and would need to win seven of their last eight matches to be any hope of qualifying for the finals.

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