The Sharks will put a red circle around next Friday night's NRL clash with Brisbane after labelling it a season-breaker.

The Sharks suffered their eighth loss of the year, falling 14-8 to the Storm in Melbourne despite a big effort from the players.

There was none bigger than from their skipper Paul Gallen, who played the full 80 minutes as he backed up from Wednesday's Origin loss to Queensland.

Gallen said the Sharks, who are in 14th position, must beat the Broncos at Toyota Park on Friday night to keep their season alive.

"We're in trouble ... next week's it," Gallen said after the match.

"If we can't win next week..."

Coach Shane Flanagan said his side was in the same precarious position as the Gold Coast, Canberra and the Roosters.

"We're not on our own, we need to win next week and string some wins together on the back of that so it's a huge challenge," he said.

"Next week it all boils down for a couple of sides, if they don't win they're getting too far behind."

The Sharks may be without two of their props with injuries to Luke Douglas (medial ligament) and Josh Cordoba (hamstring), which forced them off AAMI Park in the first half.

Flanagan was highly critical of his side's kicking game, with halves Scott Porter and Wade Graham making little impact while the Storm scored twice off kicks.

But he said there weren't other options with Albert Kelly still a few weeks away from returning from his broken leg.

"I've just got to work with those players that we've got there.

"They can kick the ball it's not like they just lost it today."

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