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While I don’t want to jinx them, there are plenty of reasons for Sharks fans to believe that Harold Holt will be coming home to turn off the porch light on the first Sunday of October.
This year the Sharks are a different kettle of fish. Coach Shane Flanagan has assembled a highly talented and balanced squad in his seventh year at the helm, with a great mix of experience and youth scattered throughout.
A new confidence has filled the air in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire, and exciting times are ahead of us.
The recruitment of James Maloney and Chad Townsend turned out to be an absolute masterstroke, with the NSW five-eighth and Cronulla junior combining well.
After so many years with the steady but lacklustre Jeff Robson, with too many different five-eighths to name, it’s good to see the Sharks with a genuine halves combination that can steer the side around and create opportunities with flair.
Ben Barba has returned to career best form and has been an enigma at the back. His newfound confidence has helped propel the Sharks to equal first on the ladder, with his evasive running putting doubts into defenders minds, his sound defence and ball playing.
Young guns Jack Bird and Valentine Holmes have added some spice to the Sharks’ flanks, combining strength, speed and finesse to the previously lacklustre backline. These two will be the future of the club, and I have no doubt they’ll feature predominately for their state and country respectively.
Flanagan has opted to use an outside back off the bench, with both Gerard Beale and Ricky Leutele having taken place there at various times this season. Sosaia Feki is the third player to fit in two spots and while it may seem odd having a back on the bench, it creates competition between these players, which means the team will always have their best set of players.
I absolutely love the way the Sharks are using their forward pack.
Luke Lewis and Wade Graham have been doing a terrific job on the edges for years, and with their ball playing abilities, they’ve been able to send their outside men for linebreaks and tries. Both have experience and are great in both attack and defence and would make most NRL sides’ backrows, and they compliment each other well.
Andrew Fifita provides the x-factor that you need in the forwards. He can provide impact by churning out metres, he can put on a big hit, he can pop a ball or he can come in as a support player. I really think a lot of the Sharks’ success in the finals will hinge on him as he’s able to create that much needed explosiveness and game changing play.
The underrated and solid performers should all be acknowledged as well. Although they don’t provide the same impact as the previously mentioned players, they all do their job up front and are great contributors to the team. Every NRL side needs blokes like these and the Sharks are lucky to have such experienced, level headed and consistent forwards doing the dirty work each and every week.
Lastly I’d like to mention two key players in the team: Michael Ennis and Paul Gallen.
Plenty of people rubbished Ennis’ move to Cronulla, claiming that it would be the end of his career and he’d finish off a loser. How wrong they were. Ennis has not only bettered the Sharks’ attack and direction on the field, but he has also added another dimension to his game that was seldom used at his previous clubs – kicking.
Having a hooker with a kicking game can be such a great asset for a team in the modern game, and while Ennis did have his fair share of punts at the Bulldogs, it’s now evident that he has upped his game and has learnt when and when not to put in kicks. So many times he has trapped opponents behind their in goal and forced line drop outs because of his added maturity and timing, and the Sharks have to thank this man for that.
And of course, who can forget captain courageous Paul Gallen?
I know plenty on here will bag Gal for his untimely runs and hogging of the ball, but realistically the Sharks are nothing without him, and vice versa.
He adds the starch and the go forward for the team, always leading from the front and never taking a backwards step. He’ll put his body on the line each and every game in order to get his team the win, and in the last few years he has toned his aggression down and learnt when and when not to play his part.
The man is the heart and soul of the club and has been for quite some time, and if there’s anyone deserving to lift the Provan-Summons trophy at the end of the year for the Sharks, it’s him.
The only concern I have over Cronulla’s premiership chances is the chance they very well could choke. We saw this both happen to the Dragons and Souths in 2009 and 2013 respectively, but both clubs broke their long droughts the year after, and I know with their experience that the Sharks can overcome the 50-year-oldhoodoo as well.
I’m hoping that if my team doesn’t make the finals (which they probably won’t), the Sharks take out the comp. And what better year to win your maiden premiership than in your 50th?
Up, up Cronulla.
How do you think the Sharks will finish this season? Will they break their 50 year curse, or will it just be another unsuccessful year? Let me know in the comments below!
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