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News of Ben Barba heading off to play rugby union in France for two and a half years has Cronulla fans quickly giving up dreams of a back-to-back title.
You can’t argue with them either. They have already lost Michael Ennis to retirement and they have history against them, with no clubs going back-to-back in the NRL era.
Arguably the team, having achieved the club’s first win, won’t have quite the same drive this time around.
However, this cloud has a silver lining. Valentine Holmes is one player who should be a marquee man of the Sharks for years to come. He was always going to be starting fullback this season but the jury was still out on what was going to happen when Barba came back after his 12-match suspension.
You would have to think that Barba would have gone to fullback and Holmes back to the wing.
Now, he has been given the fullback role for the entire season and the Sharks have the additional cash to sign him up long term for that role. The Sharks would be hoping he becomes a pin up boy in the same way Andrew Ettingshausen was for so many years.
The same also applies to Jack Bird and Wade Graham who, with Holmes, are the future of this club. All are off contract at the end of the year and will command top dollars on the open market.
With Barba moving on and the likes of Paul Gallen, Chris Heighington and Luke Lewis coming towards the end of their careers, the money should be there to lock in this trio.
And maybe, just maybe, this also helps the Club free up some dollars to brings James Segeyaro to the club.
You can’t just replace Michael Ennis and what he brought to the Sharks, but the signing of Segeyaro would be seen as a large advantage while Jayden Brailey is getting ready to come into first grade full time.
So, where does that leave the Sharks for the future? I would love to see NRL history created in the first repeat premier for many years but I can’t see it happening. However, I think there’s a bright future. The club will also need to deal with the loss of Gallen, Heighington and Lewis going forward however the rest of the pack is still strong.
Players like Ricky Leutele and Sosaia Feki are much underrated while the halves remain strong.
And if they can keep Holmes, Bird and Graham together, the Sharks do have good years in front of them. So cheer up Sharks fans, Barba departing may be just what your team needs.
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