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After turning off the porch light in 2016, the Cronulla Sharks couldn’t manage to repeat their heroics and become the first back-to-back champion since Brisbane in 1993.
With the retirement of Michael Ennis and the exit of star fullback Ben Barba, the Sharks were up against it for the start of the off-season, which included a trip to the UK to face Wigan in the World Club Challenge.
Coach Shane Flanagan joined me on my Talking with TK Podcast to review the season and offer some insights into 2018.
Jayden Brailey
The find of the season was young hooker Brailey. At only 21 years, the former U20s superstar played 20 games and scored four tries. He more than held his own in the middle of the park and made an impressive comeback from smashing his jaw against Manly.
They restricted his ability to play with the ball and in time we will see the coaching staff allow him to show more of his natural flair with the ball. Keeping James Segeyaro on the bench shows how much the Sharks rate the kid.
Cap space for further acquisitions
In the Flanagan era the Sharks are known for astute, late bargain buys. The Sharks are in a great place with salary cap management with Flanagan revealing the club is around $800,000 under the cap due to the new cap negotiations.
Matt Moylan’s name has been a constant rumour over the past month and it’s no secret Moylan and his coach Anthony Elliott do not see eye to eye. With Cronulla home to many of the Western Sururbs’ finest, it will be no surprise to see Moylan in the black, white and blue.
Squad experience
The team has been there and done that, with a 2016 grand final win and many finals appearances over the past six to seven years. The team is stacked with State of Origin and Australian representatives with many 150, 200 and 300-game players in the team. The Sharks are the most experienced team in the NRL, which shows with the team’s composure when they fall behind in games.
The junior nursery
One of the best U20s teams the Sharks have had since the famous President’s Cup team of 1994, which would have beat most first-grade teams on their day. They didn’t perform in the finals but they have an enormous amount of potential with Flanagan nominating Kyle Flanagan, Jesse Ramien, Briton Nikora, Isaac Lumelume and Will Kennedy as the players to watch in 2018.
The coach
Got to give credit where credit is due, when Flanagan took over late in the 2010 season from Ricky Stuart the Sharks were the laughing stock of the league. Even with the ASADA scandal, Flanagan brought the team out from those lows to achieving the possible and claiming the Sharks’ first ever title. Well respected by his players, Flanagan has a great ability to bring in quality players into the squad.
Flanagan on the positives from 2017
“We had three players make 300 games and you know that’s an amazing achievement by Chris Heighington, Luke Lewis and Paul Gallen. Then we had two boys make their debuts in Jayden Brailey and Jesse Ramien, we won the club championships, our 20s had a fantastic year. They got some injuries and suspensions of the back end of the year, but coming off a premiership, the World Club Challenge it’s been a big 18 months and it’s good for the players to have a break from me and come back in November.”
Away record
The saviour of the season was the team’s ability to win on the road, with a 10-2 win-loss record. Most teams struggle in this area, so if the Sharks can repeat something similar next year, no doubt they will again be pressing for the top four if the home record can improve.
Josh Dugan
Dugan will be the surprise shinning light for next season, he is an upgrade on Jack Bird as he is a better centre and fullback and that’s where the Sharks were always going to play Bird.
With respect to Canberra and St George, Dugan was always in their top three best players so there was always expectations and pressure for him to perform. At the Sharks, Dugan is not in the top three and will have less pressure of media duties, which is usually driven towards Gallen, Lewis, Maloney, Graham and Fifita.
Hooker rotation and bench use
Having two hookers is a waste of an interchange, even sitting Gerard Beale in 2016 was a waste particularly when you think it would be the perfect position for someone such as Kurt Capewell who can play wing, centre or back row. Even a Joseph Paulo would be better given his versatility.
Flanagan on the hooker battle
“I think they both have 80 minutes in them, but the way the game is at the moment you have to be smart with how you play your No.9s if they play 80 minutes. The one that does it at the moment is Cameron Smith. Defensively you can get found out and you have to do a lot of work. Jayden [Brailey]’s probably the closest to doing that right now and as he gets a little older that will become easier. James [Segeyaro] just needs a really good off-season and I think he can do it as well.”
Ageing roster
The Sharks are an old team particularly around their leaders Paul Gallen (36) and Luke Lewis (34), whose experience, influence and leadership will not be easy to replace when they decide to call it a day.
Poor starts to games
Another focus for the off-season is to fix the poor starts the team consistently had through the year. When the Sharks scored first, the chances of them losing a game was very slim. The experience in the team allowed them to claw back into games where others would fail.
Discipline and error rate
Silly penalties and poor completion rates were also a consistency among the team and also a major contributor to their poor starts. Even great defence can’t make up for continually turning over the ball and giving away good field position to your opposition. Adding two new players (Brailey and Holmes) to the spine probably did not help in this area either.
Prop and halves depth
With outstanding starters in Fifita and Prior, the Sharks lacked a killer from the bench in 2017. Jeremy Latimore was good without being outstanding while Chris Heighington and Sam Tagataese struggled with injury and consistency. A couple of young guys have been brought in with Ava Seumanufagai (Wests Tigers) and Braden Uele (Cowboys) both showing potential to fill the obvious team weakness.
When Maloney went down injured there was a clear lack of depth with Nu Brown filling his shoes without setting the world on fire. Both Maloney and Townsend lack back up to pressure them into feeling a threat to their starting spot. The emergence of Kyle Flanagan may change this but given his small frame he looks at least a year away from pressuring the first graders for a spot.
Contract distractions
The early season drama with Jack Bird was then followed by late season drama with James Maloney. Both clearly had an effect on the team, particularly with Maloney as chief playmaker. Given a season is left on Maloney’s contract, a return to form for him would not surprise in a contract year.
Home record
A home record of 5-7, with some of those wins coming right at the death against struggling clubs, is poor. Surely there is something going wrong with home game preparation because crowds looked better than ever so the support was there. Will make or break or chances of finishing top four next year.
It was a satisfactory finish in 2017 for the Cronulla Sharks. Given a long season with a trip to England, the retirement of Michael Ennis and the Ben Barba issues, the team did well to be one win from a top four finish. Over the season, the Sharks looked the only team capable of beating the Storm, who were likely glad to avoid another meeting with the Shire boys.
2018 is one of promise, with a priority to fix a dreadful home record and also sort out the contract dramas with James Maloney. Given a stable of promising youth and the cap room for 2018, a marquee buy in the form of someone with the ability of Matt Moylan will see the Sharks again pushing for a top four finish.
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