The Sharks are worth fighting for
Roar Guru
By Steve Kaless, 25 May 2009 Steve Kaless is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Brett Seymour, Cronulla Sharks, Mickey Paea, NRL, paul gallen, Reni Maitua, Ricky Stuart, Rugby League
Misi Taulapapa lines up a nice right cross at Anthony Quinn during the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks vs Melbourne Storm Preliminary Final National Rugby League match at the Sydney Football Stadium, Friday, Sept. 26, 2008. (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)
Oh what a fickle bunch we are! Three months ago the Sharks were everyone’s sneaky tip for the Grand Final now you are hard pressed to find anyone who reckons they deserve a place in the comp.
They become a punching bag for the press and if there is one thing that everyone seems to love it’s a bandwagon, or should that be lynch mob?
There is no doubt there are problems at the Sharks, of course most of the financial ones were there when everyone thought they might win the first title, but are they so terminal that you just cash them in and start again?
I don’t think so, I’d like to see a real fight to get things fixed. We might live in a disposable culture but football clubs of any flavour don’t come with a reset button.
There is a line of argument that they won’t be missed, I’m pretty sure that those who spout it haven’t asked any Sharks fans, but this is what I heard when they decided to boot the Bears, and the Rabbitohs were a laughing stock.
Have we learned nothing from these disasters? The game is still yet to reclaim the fans they lost in the aftermath from those two exclusions.
What is more, the removal of both of these teams left scars on the competition and isn’t something we should be rushing to repeat.
The reason for this is that football clubs aren’t just the group of 25 players currently contracted to the club and the back room staff.
They are made up of the blood and sweat of every player who has played for the club and the tears of every fan who has attended the matches.
So while the current group might be dogged by allegations of group sex from seven years ago and rumours of sex toys in the change room, the Sharks are much more than that.
And it would take a pretty cold heart to look any of their fans in the eye and tell them it is no more without having moved heaven and earth to keep them going.
Now I’m no Sharks fan, but for what it is worth this would be my plan for redemption.
First, forget any talk of a merger with a current NRL club. Given their financial state the word isn’t merger, it’s takeover.
And if you think it would work then tell me why any Sharks fan worth their salt would suddenly want to follow a Cronulla side joined with the Dragons (you know, the team that “merged” with the Steelers) or Bulldogs?
Honestly, it would make the Northern Eagles look like a match made in heaven.
The way it stands I think a partial relocation would probably be the way to go.
Not to the Central Coast, but perhaps to the new frontiers of either Rockhampton, Cairns, Perth and Adelaide.
However you need to be able to maintain a link with the area from which the club has come, like the way the Swans hark back to the Bloods whenever required.
I’d then argue that you need a big broom: big changes are certainly required but it isn’t impossible. The Bulldogs must provide hope for any club at the wrong end of the table, but you can also look at the way the Storm and Titans have in recent years put competitive teams together from scratch.
I’d argue the first player that needs to go is Paul Gallen. Yes he is the captain and probably their best player but must be very close to being more trouble than he is worth.
Honestly, the last thing the game needs is a race row and if it proves that Gallen did abuse the Dragons Mickey Paea then you must ask questions about a bloke who is considered captain material by his coach.
I’d also show Ricky Stuart the door. He is far too confrontational for a team looking to fix its image.
And image is everything. Look at the A-League. A name change, a set of new jerseys and hey presto a game that could once fit its fans in a phone booth is suddenly the elephant in the room.
While we are firing, goodbye to the recruitment and retention committee. The Sharks have a real track record for attracting the wrong type of player for a few years now.
Josh Hannay fell out in North Queensland so they gave him a run, Brett Seymour drank his way to an exit in Brisbane so the Sharks thought he’d be a good fit and then there’s Reni Maitua.
For too long the Sharks have bought players at the wrong end of their career or with the wrong attitude.
There is a long list of players on the open market and plenty of them would tick the boxes for a club looking for a clean cut image.
The problems don’t have easy fixes, but by putting them in the too hard basket and just pulling the pin the NRL would just be creating a whole new set of problems.
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- Explore:
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Andrew said | May 25th 2009 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Your kidding. Sharks are a basketcase.
Barry Pierce says he takes no responsibility for the state the Sharks are in, yet he has been on the Sharks board for the last 10 years. The position the Sharks find themselves in, didn’t happen overnight, it was a lack of leadership in the front office for many years that put them in this position.
No area wants to share a team like you have suggested, it’s all or nothing. Sharks should move for the good of the game, the Sharks fans by not turning up in numbers in there hour of need has shown the indifference they feel towards the club. Even last year when they finished 3rd on the table the crowds didn’t turn up.
So NRL stand up and be counted. Let an area that deserve a team get it, and make the game stronger!
Tom Alexander, Cairns QLD. said | May 25th 2009 @ 10:07am | Report comment
They played in the Super-league Grand Final against the Broncos that was when they had a pretty good team and an experienced coach in Johny Lang (even though he was a bit hot tempered) when he left at the end of 2001 in pretty acrimonious circumstances (to ironically coach Penrith to their famous premiership win the following year) things at Cronulla seem to have slowly gone pear-shaped, now it isn’t the fans fault for not turning up in their tens of thousands if anything those that do turn up should be congratulated imagine in all your 40 years of existence never winning a premiership a couple of times the bridesmaid shit I’m surprised anyone would still want to turn up to any of their games yet they do week in week out year in year out. The Rabbitohs and now the Bulldogs are proving if you can get your shit together off the field then positive things can happen on the field god knows their long suffering fans deserve it.
Redb said | May 25th 2009 @ 10:45am | Report comment
Cronulla need a favourite son to return, one with an impeccable reputation who has the profile and media savvy to save the club. That man is Andrew Ettingshausen. C’mon ET time to stand up.
Redb
sledgeross said | May 25th 2009 @ 10:55am | Report comment
Where should the Sharks move to Andrew, for the good of the game? Geographically speaking, the Shire is a key area for Rugby League. There are plenty of other clubs out there that have poor crowds as well (hello Roosters!). The scheduling of games also plays a part in crowd attendences declining.
Finno said | May 25th 2009 @ 11:35am | Report comment
Get rid of them, where ther is smoke there usually is fire and I dare say Cronulla situation is probably far worse than what we know. There are way to many Sydney based teams anyway, I read that it was going to be Parramatta, Penrith or Cronulla that gets the chop. So it looks like Cronulla have stepped forward for the head lopping or merge the clubs. There really should be 2 or 3 sydney teams. With the probable introduction of an 2nd AFL team, a 2nd A -League team in Sydney,rugby league will struggle to keep the smaller sydney based teams and it would be better to make the move to shut or merge these clubs than try continue on. With the continual expantion of AFL into traditional heat lands of league I cant see what option league has. The number dont add up and at the end of the day it will determine who lives or dies.
znotty said | May 25th 2009 @ 12:16pm | Report comment
The NRL a National comp with Melbourne,Brisbane,Canberra,Newcastle,Gold Coast,Illawarra,North Qld & NZ (that makes it international but we wont bring that up) the rest from the Suburbs of Sydney,its like a hybrid International \ National + local Suburban type thing,Clubs were offered millions & a guaranteed spot but the boards of some clubs refused to bite the bullet & merge as others have done & instead they have chosen the natural attrition path…well so be it,if Cronulla cant fund a first grade team then they should go play in the local Sydney comp,theres just too many teams from Sydney & not enough from Perth or Darwin or Central Coast or a 2nd Brisbane team ,4 teams from Sydney 6 at the most.
Andrew said | May 25th 2009 @ 2:14pm | Report comment
sledgeross said “Geographically speaking, the Shire is a key area for Rugby League.”
Honestly, they are well covered by St George, within a generation those that grow up in the area will all support St George. But huge population areas like Logan in QLD are crying out for a team, and I can guarantee will see more than 15K averages turn out each week to see them. Cronulla have had 2 chances previously where they were bailed out when in poor fiscal form. I think this 3rd time just shows that the area can’t support a team, and really the hard decisions need to be made this time.
TammyS said | May 25th 2009 @ 2:23pm | Report comment
There’s way too many teams in sydney. If there was ever an opportunity to get rid of one of them, then this is it. Im not a fan of a partial relocation and I think the sharks should make a full relocation somewhere in QLD or Brisbane. Ideally Id like to see 2 other sydney clubs merge but I doubt that would happen anytime soon. Personally, I think 6 teams in sydney is enough. Sydney RL fans can share those 6 teams (whoever they are)
sledgeross said | May 25th 2009 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
Andrew, fair enough point, but I actually think people will forego footy all together if the Sharks went. Its like the Bears. Once they left, the north shore was lost.
JimC said | May 25th 2009 @ 3:11pm | Report comment
As Jack Gibson said, waiting for Cronulla to win a premiership is like leaving the porch light on for Harold Holt.