Cronulla coach John Morris has singled out his senior players following his side’s 14-12 NRL loss to Canterbury on Sunday.
The Sharks went into the clash looking to cement their reputation as top four contenders but will instead spend the bye week soul searching after allowing the Bulldogs to jump out to a 14-0 lead and failing to run them down.
While Morris didn’t name names, he called out his senior players in a brutal post-game appraisal.
Five-eighth Shaun Johnson was guilty of failing to control the match when it was in the balance – something for which he was criticised for during his time at the Warriors and was a big reason behind the Auckland club telling him he wasn’t in their long-term plans.
He came up with several key errors including kicking out on the full, being tackled on the last and losing the ball when it looked like he was going to be bundled over the sideline.
Fullback Matt Moylan also had a shocker, making six errors including three dropped bombs and throwing a no-look pass over the sideline.
Capping a horrible display from the Sharks’ leaders, halfback Chad Townsend butchered what should have been the winning try at the death when he kicked with a three-on-one overlap.
“The game’s in the balance, you’re not going to look to your young blokes to stand up,” Morris said.
“You’re going to look to your senior leaders to stand up.
“We’ve got a fair few experienced guys out there, on paper we’re one of the most experienced teams in the competition.
“We’ve got to walk the walk.”
Morris described the match as “one of the worst performances I’ve seen from this club”, lamented their 15 errors and accused his side of being “cocky” and not taking the Bulldogs seriously.
He played down the prospect of making changes, however, young playmaker Kyle Flanagan will come back into contention after he led the side to four wins from five matches during Johnson’s recent injury absence.
Flanagan has been linked with a move to the Sydney Roosters next year, despite being on contract until 2021.
Flanagan is also an accomplished goal-kicker, something which was dearly missed in their two-point losses against Canberra and Canterbury.
Johnson kicked none from three at ANZ Stadium and Morris admitted it was something they will have to work on.
“You just need to knock goals over,” Morris said.
“They weren’t all easy kicks, I get that.
“It’s two weeks in a row we’ve gone down because we haven’t nailed our goals.
“It’s going to be one of many things on our list this week to fix.”
Bloke7
Roar Rookie
Thank you so much Sharks. We needed that gift cause we certainly didn't earn it. I'd feel sorry for you but we're still at the bottom of the table
farkurnell
Guest
Rene ... I can remember many over the years but not with the talent we have. Generally the Sharks perform horribly in recent years when they are raging Odds-on Favs, for some strange reason(s) its in there DNA. There's an old cliché(I'm gunna use a few) ...a Champion Team will always beat a Team of Champions ( not that the Dogs are a Champion Team).Just cause there are many superstars in your team doesn't guarantee success. Here's another one...Too many cooks spoil the broth. The Sharks have a lot of natural leaders in the team,probably too many.The "Followers" like Feki, Bakuya,Williams,Morris ,Dugan, Prior, etc had pretty solid games yesterday.The spine had a Barry Crocker.There kicking game was appalling.I suspect the Leaders were all waiting around for the others to spark something brilliant. Goal kicking .. I'd give to Chad(while Kyle's in Reserves).I'm sure Chad would have slotted at least one of those three from the same spot. SJ is a confidence player ,I suspect the missed goals played on his mind. He needs to be freed up from this burden. If he scores 2 tries an sets up a few more any team with a 50% conversion rate would win most games. What to do with Gal?? Rookie coach Morris is really starting to struggle now. Obviously great at motivation inexperienced and average performers but controlling and managing the old stagers is something where we're missing Flanno. Gal needs to be reminded he doesn't need to take it up 3 times in a set of 6,its stifling the attack and very predictable. The dogs strength is there defence in the middle .. ..the Sharks played to there strengths yesterday. We're all waiting for an 80min performance,even a solid 40mins would have won that one.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Good on Morris for calling it what it is.... his not wrong either, that is the worst performance I’ve seen from Cronulla this decade. Mentally they weren’t there, you can normally count on the Sharks to show commitment and effort.... it wasn’t there yesterday which is incredibly disappointing maybe they have been reading their own press and expected to just show up. That said, it could be the loss and kick up the backside they needed for 2019 in order to play to the expected standards. If they don’t bounce back and give the Broncos a hammering this weekend... alarm bells are ringing.
Trivette Kelekolio
Guest
Poor performance. A lot of the same players from previous years are still around.. Sharks playing with the same system for a few years, it's become repetitive. Graham needs to be captain. Morris needs to make it his team, his system so he can get full backing of the players.