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Bennett's Barba bluff ready to bite Sharks

14th November, 2014
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Ben Barba faces his old team as a Shark. Who are you tipping to win? (AAP Image/Action Photographics, Colin Whelan)
Roar Guru
14th November, 2014
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1485 Reads

When the Brisbane Broncos threw homesick Ben Barba a lifeline twelve months ago, only tormented Sharks supporters would have joked the former Dally-M Medallist would be clad in their team colours one year later.

That is until Wayne Bennett waved his magic wand to make the joke a reality, performing a vanishing act with his own Newcastle coaching contract and Barba’s Brisbane playing days, filling luckless Cronulla fans with renewed optimism.

What lies ahead in the Queenslander’s new three-year deal will determine if the Sharks laugh last or find themselves the laughing stock of an all too familiar contract-ending punchline.

For the ravaged Sharks, is the surprising turn of events worth the risk?

After suffering the most torturous season by any club since South Sydney’s exclusion in 1999, why would Cronulla risk another nail in an already bulging coffin housing an ASADA circus, Todd Carney, two coaches, raunchy Mad-Monday snaps, an echoing Paul Gallen tweet, a fit of road rage and one CEO.

With the redundancy of Steve Noyce amid rumours of soft leadership and the addition of experienced hooker Michael Ennis, Cronulla screamed of a club determined to break free of relocation talk and a wretched 2014.

The Barba deal smells of a hastily organised and ill-informed management decision that actually contradicts earlier efforts promoting stability and growth.

For the fragile Barba his third club in three years sees a return to Sydney’s Sutherland Shire and the source of previous erratic behaviour.

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While the Sharks on-field performance should benefit, the sustainability is questionable along with Cronulla’s ability to survive another high profile player meltdown. And despite acting with the best of intensions, the Sharks’ choice of signing should not have been made in isolation.

Already accused of hiding serious Barba allegations under a Bulldog coloured carpet in 2013 and witnessing the Sharks on the brink of extinction, it made sense for the NRL to step in and question the motives of both parties in the quickly arranged deal.

Maybe the accuracy of Paul Gallen’s NRL bashing tweet was masked through poor words covering truths bigger than the initial $50,000 fine. For if David Smith’s concern for player and club welfare extends beyond convenience, then offering guidance to a star player recovering from scars inflicted two clubs ago would’ve topped the list.

Perhaps guidance in the art of Wayne Bennett mind-games could have kept Barba at his preferred Red Hill homebase.

For Bennett didn’t know who he wanted among an oversupply of backline talent when he slipped back into the Broncos saddle, but found out quick enough when Barba took to heart the option to negotiate outside the Broncos bunker.

Had Barba held his nerve and called the coach’s bluff, Bennett would have embraced the former Bulldog knowing he had a man willing to fight for the right, and therein lies the problem ready to bite the Cronulla Sharks.

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