NRL's kick-blocker crackdown changes the game - but the question is do we want that?
NRL kickers are under more pressure than ever. But what will the knock-on effects of the new crack-down be?
The Cronulla Sharks have signalled their intention to become an NRL powerhouse by joining the chase for current Storm coach Craig Bellamy.
Cronulla have become the latest club to try and secure the signature of the Melbourne super coach.
According to reports, the Sharks have joined the Brisbane Broncos in the race to get Bellamy heading north and have offered the 61-year-old a four-year deal to be the club’s director of football.
Bellamy has declared he does not want to coach Melbourne next season, bringing an end to a 19-year run at the Storm which includes the 2012, 2017 and 2020 premierships.
“We can confirm meetings have been ongoing between the Sharks, Craig Bellamy and his advisors, in relation to a potential coaching director role at our club from 2022 onwards,” Cronulla chief executive Dino Mezzatesta said in a statement on Saturday night.
“Until there is more to report, the Sharks will be making no further comment.”
The club’s coaching set-up beyond 2021 season has been a source of contention in recent weeks.
John Morris is entering the final season of a three-year deal but despite coaching the team to the finals in both campaigns so far, he remains unsigned for 2022.
Cronulla’s only premiership-winning coach, Shane Flanagan, will be able to resume a head coaching role in the Telstra Premiership next season with his ban due to expire in November.
Flanagan, who served as an assistant at St George Illawarra last season before parting ways with the club once Anthony Griffin came on board, was deregistered by the NRL in December 2018 after an investigation into salary cap irregularities at the Sharks found he had communicated with the club while serving a previous ban related to the side’s peptide scandal.
The Sharks finished eighth last season before bowing out in the first week of the finals when they were eliminated by Canberra.
© AAP
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