THE Cronulla Sharks’ official 2016 NRL grand final T-shirt rack was empty by lunch time last Saturday.

A total of 1500 shirts at $30 each were gone within 14 hours of the Sharks booking a spot in Sunday’s NRL grand final.

Need a Sharks flag?

Sorry, they’re gone with another $60,000 worth of merchandise too. Emergency orders of a further 2000 flags will arrive from Melbourne on Wednesday.

Want a women’s supporter jersey? Sorry ladies, the last one was sold on Monday.

Prefer a scarf instead? No problems, another 500 are being shipped from WA on Tuesday.

Christmas has come early in the Sutherland Shire with excited Cronulla Sharks fans purchasing $210,000 worth of grand final merchandise in three days.

In scenes reminiscent of the Boxing Day sales, everything from bedding, towels, caps, jumpers, shorts, thongs, stubby holders, even blue, black and white eskies are being snapped up in record time by Sharks fans ahead of the club’s first grand final in 20 years.

And fans were quick to snap up tickets for Sunday’s decider with members selling out the 5000-seat Sharks bay in just eight minutes, ahead of Tuesday’s general release of tickets.

Such is the demand for anything Cronulla at the official store, an extra 10 staff members have been called into meet with the overwhelming demand.

On Monday, diehard Sharks fans queued for two hours to pay more than $200 for grand final tickets which are expected to be sold-out by Friday.

Like the rest of the Shire it seems, Sharks merchandise manager Adam Barnes is running on adrenaline, working 16-hour days as fever pitch takes over the southern beaches.

With his mobile attached to his ear, Barnes is in permanent contact with the club’s two major apparel suppliers, Blades and Classic, to keep the fans happy and shelves lined with merchandise.

However, Barnes said that due to the record rate of sales — which includes an average of $53,000 at each home game this year — it was inevitable that they would run out of stock.

“Saturday and Sunday was huge in here and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down,’’ Barnes said.

“I’m constantly trying to get more stock in and we will have more shipments over the next couple of days.

“Classic sportswear are going to make us a new black cap to keep up with the demand, which we hope to have midweek.

“I told them, I’ll take what I can get. But I don’t think there’s a doubt we’ll run out of stock. We’ve been selling from November (last year), all the way through until September.

“We had record sales during the year, averaging $53,000 a home game. We’ve just done insane number the whole year.

“I don’t think any club in the NRL would carry stock on the ‘what if’ basis that you’re going to make the grand final. It’s just leaning on your suppliers to get your stock as quick as you can.’’

And without daring to get ahead of themselves, Barnes said the demand for merchandise would only increase, should the Sharks win their first NRL title in 50-years.

“A lot of my focus this week is firstly managing the staff, but also what could eventuate,’’ Barnes said.

“A lot of orders have already been made for what is called the ‘premiers’ range, which includes everything you can think of.

“Not to mention a memorabilia range which could generate anywhere between $400,000 and half a million dollars in sales.

“Having that all set-up so that if we do get the result, is a major focus for us.’’