Cronulla’s defensive woes last season ultimately cost them a seventh straight trip to the finals.
If you need help in this area, you can’t do much better than bringing in Craig Fitzgibbon, Dale Finucane and Cameron McInnes for an immediate fix.
In a bizarre season in which they sacked their coach, John Morris, after just five rounds, the Sharks finished ninth under caretaker boss Josh Hannay, just missing the finals on percentages when they were gazumped by the Storm in the final round while the Titans leapfrogged them by pummeling the Warriors.
Losing to Melbourne should not have been a surprise – they finished 2-9 against the teams which made last year’s finals. They were as middle of the road as a median strip.
When you look at the main statistical categories, the Sharks were, for the most part, good but not great.
At the crux of their inability to make the leap into finals contenders was their missed tackle rate. They were the second-worst in the 2021 NRL season at 34.4 per game, with behind only the leaky Cowboys (36.8) falling off more tackles.
This led to the Sharks conceding many more running metres than they otherwise would have done. They were fourth-worst in this category at an average of 1537, ahead of the bottom three teams on the ladder – the Dogs, Broncos and Cowboys.
Despite their inability to hit and stick in tackles, they were still a commendable seventh in the NRL when it came to points (23.4) and tries (4) conceded per game.
Fitzgibbon, a renowned elite defensive specialist as a player and assistant coach for more than two decades, should be the ideal new mentor to come into the Sutherland Shire and put some bite back in the Sharks’ tackling efficiency.
Big forward Toby Rudolf (74) and hooker Blayke Brailey (71) were two of the chief culprits, ranking fifth and sixth in the NRL in this unwanted area, while second-rower Briton Nikora (54), and utility duo Matt Moylan (52) and Connor Tracey (49) also need to improve.
McInnes, despite sitting out last season at the Dragons with a torn ACL, and Finucane love tackling in almost unhealthy way and another player who hopefully will be able to strengthen Cronulla’s defence is Wade Graham, who is on the comeback trail after concussions ruined his 2021 campaign.
The 31-year-old skipper only added 11 games last season to his career tally, which now stands at 259 since his debut in 2008. With his lucrative contract up at the end of this year, it shapes as a crucial season for the premiership-winning former international.
One category which went under the radar last year was that Cronulla (83%) were just shaded for top honours by Canberra (84%) in goal-kicking in 2021. For the Sharks, who lost a record five matches due to inferior goal-kicking just a couple of seasons beforehand, this was a massive improvement.
Their main kickers from last year, Chad Townsend and Shaun Johnson, are no longer at the club but new halves duo Braydon Trindall (81%) and Nicho Hynes (74%) are more than capable off the tee.
Trindall and Hynes will also have to pick up the slack from Johnson in particular when it comes to forced drop-outs. Cronulla were second in this category (2.1) behind Penrith (2.2) and this is a telling stat as it’s no coincidence that seven of the top eight teams who were the best at getting those repeat sets were playoff sides.
Hynes had five at the Storm last season and Trindall came up with nine at the Sharks while much-improved fullback Will Kennedy also showed he was adept with the little grubber into the in-goal area by conjuring up 10.
Another area where the Sharks were statistically high was completion rate, being one of three teams to finish the year with an average of 80%. But to show how much this harped-on-about stat is over-rated, the other two teams at the top were premiers Penrith and wooden spooners Canterbury so make of that what you will.
They kicked off their pre-season with a 34-6 loss to Penrith on Sunday but not much should be read into that result with only four players at the most likely to be part of the round-one team as Fitzgibbon used the game as a way to see what his baby Sharks could do, do-doo-do-doo.
With a new coach, key recruits and a young roster on the rise, Cronulla have been widely tipped in the pre-season as the team most likely to make the leap from outside the eight into the finals this year.
If Fitzgibbon fixes their defence, they could potentially challenge for a top-four berth but if they keep missing tackles, in the left, right and centre thirds of the field, they will again be stuck in the middle of the pack.
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
As I said – if you think Morris was a success in terms of defence I suspect you are a lone voice. The team lost its defensive DNA under him – fact. He admitted himself that defence was an issue. Want me to find the videos of him saying that? Are you trying to argue that under Morris Cronulla was a good defensive team?
mushi
Roar Guru
It's not great at all. It's never had a high correlation with points allowed. I think it's because getting a body on someone is disruptive regardless of if you miss or not. So a missed/ineffective tackle after 5m where your team mates then get him at 6m in a slow potb is better than squaring up and tackling at 7m for a quick potb.
Greg
Roar Pro
His impact over their attack goes beyond those stats. It is no coincidence that in Johnson's worst year (which was largely injury affected) that Sharks missed finals. But looking at stats, the year before Johnson led the comp for try assists. In 2021, Sharks won, 5 from 7 when Johnson was the starting halfback and 5 from 10 when he played. 50% win rate isnt great until it is compared to the 5 from 14 (35%) when he was not there.
Sam
Guest
Johnson had one try and five try assists in 2021, not sure they'll miss him at all
mushi
Roar Guru
Sweet if you consider defence something other than allowing teams to score or not that’s up to you. His team has been above average on that side of the ball despite a cap penalty.
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
If you think their defence under Morris was good then that’s up to you. I don’t. He changed the nature of the team from one based on defence and grind to one that seemed to think it could outscore opponents and that defence was secondary. The side did outscore plenty of opponents – unfortunately they were bottom eight sides. His record against the top eight was appalling. I like the guy a lot, he took over at a terrible time and held the joint together. Loved his scrum moves too. But under him the defence was poor – that’s a fact.
mushi
Roar Guru
They let in 5 pts per game more after he was dropped. Their ppg when he was let go over 24would have been good for 4th in defence (ahead of the roosters) despite the cap issue
mushi
Roar Guru
Tackle successes rate hasn't been a great stat for defensive effectiveness. A rushed attempt that slows the attack is often useful. I think the sharks woes are more attributable to how they managed the Morris exit. They dropped games to the dogs and knights after that and were -94 differential over 5 games (admittedly a top 3 slate after those two but they didn't have a stretch like that elsewhere) For a team that finished out of the finals due to a -36 differential that was a horrible self inflicted wound.
RedcliffeFan
Roar Rookie
Defence wins matches. I got heartily sick and tired of watching Cronulla's paper thin defence in the past few seasons. That was a key reason why I was happy to see Morris moved on. The Sharks at their best are tough and gritty and hard. That's how they won the 2016 title. They must get back to that and I see Fitz as the man to do it - he's a defence specialist and one only needs to look at the Roosters to see how well that system works. If he can bring it to Cronulla then they are in for a fine year.
Paul
Roar Guru
In among all thee numbers was one comment that must have Sharks fans worried; "they finished 2-9 against the teams which made last year’s finals. They were as middle of the road as a median strip." That's been their issue for a couple of years at least. Granted they've made the finals but in reality, they've been making up the numbers because they've had exactly the same issues previously - beating the really good sides. Sure they might make the finals but with the squad they've got, I'd reckon Sharkies fans would be expecting more than one & done in the finals. How Fitzgibbon is going to lift these guys to be competitive against the Storm, Panthers, etc - I've no idea.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Yep ! When you have three guys moving quickly up in defence to hit a ball carrier, it is highly likely one is going to register a missed tackle, as the other two defenders can often influence the tackle outcome. The fact that three tacklers were there looking for the tackle is the key aspect.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
How important is the missed tackle rate, really ? Look at the Panthers as recent as yesterday. Won the game in a dead set canter despite being tagged with 29 misses against the Sharks 22 (or something near that). The Premiers had 6 in the top 25 of missed tacklers in the league yet still give up fewer points than any other side in the history of the NRL. You can miss as many as you like, as long as you hold them out online (by any means).. and unlike the Dogs have magicians with the ball.
Greg
Roar Pro
Pretty confident Sharks defence will improve for the reasons you've listed. My concern is their attack. Finucane probably has another year or two in him but he has shown signs that he is slowing down a little. McInnes won't bend the line when running and has limited attacking flair at 13. Whilst they have lost their best attacking player in Johnson. Hynes not yet proven as a first grade halfback and Moylan, although reportedly training well, hasn't shown his best in years. If these two fire they will be a much better side than last year. If not it will be another year battling to scrape into the 8.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
Fitzgibbon has been getting very strong praise for his abilities and I'll be following his trajectory with interest. Coming out of the Storm or Chook 'system' as a coach sounds great in theory but I'm not sure it means as much in practice.