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Opinion
Cronulla have always been a conservative club on and off the field and their reluctance to take a gamble with their roster is reflected in their status as a good but not great team.
The Sharks were torn to shreds 44-10 by a Warriors side last week with Shaun Johnson and Luke Metcalf carving them up with surgical precision.
Two players the club allowed to leave in the past two seasons while Matt Moylan was retained at five-eighth despite modest performances that did not live up to the lucrative deal that had brought him from Penrith in 2018.
He was given a one-year extension for 2022 and after finally getting over his ongoing soft tissue strains, he did enough to earn a two-year deal for this season and next.
The Sharks first chose him over Johnson, whose three-year stint at the club was hampered by a torn Achilles and a serious hamstring injury, but he was dynamic when he was on the field.
And then Metcalf was pounced on by the Warriors early last year and have been rewarded for their astute recruitment with the speedy playmaker energising the team midway through the season after a hamstring problem held him back.
Warriors five-eighth Luke Metcalf. (Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Metcalf, who came through the junior rep ranks at Cronulla, had already been allowed to leave once for a stint at Manly. The Sharks have made the same mistake twice.
All the while Moylan has been flattering to deceive – during his time at Cronulla he has never consistently gone anywhere near to the form from earlier in his career at Penrith when he quickly rose to NSW and Australian representative honours.
His defence this season has been an ongoing source of frustration for Sharks supporters and jubilation for opponents.
Moylan has conceded 21 line breaks and racked up 18 try causes, more than any other five-eighth in the NRL and in the top five for worst offenders for these two key stats out of all players.
The 32-year-old has been dropped for this Sunday’s stoush with the Sea Eagles at Shark Park while his left-sided comrades, Siosifa Talakai has been relegated to the bench, and Wade Graham (rested, well that’s the official line anyway) will also not be there at kick-off.
Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon has brought in capable replacements in the form of Connor Tracey at centre and Braydon Trindall as Nicho Hynes’ halves partner while Dale Finucane’s return from a two-game ban offsets Graham’s absence.
The NRL’s best recruit of 2023 has undoubtedly been Reece Walsh who has given Brisbane the extra attacking spark they lacked last year.
But when it comes to under-the-radar signings or recruits who have panned out better than expected, the Warriors go to the top of the class as they have rebuilt their roster following the exit of Walsh and high-profile teammates Matt Lodge, Kodi Nikorima and Euan Aitken.
Matt Moylan (Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
Along with Metcalf, they have hit the bullseye with pretty much all their off-season acquisitions.
They have revived the careers of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Mitch Barnett and Dylan Walker after patchy seasons at their previous stops while second-tower Jackson Ford has delivered bang for not many bucks after being undervalued at the Dragons.
Their star recruit Maratha Niukore has brought potency to the pack even though he’s missed five games from a couple of judiciary dramas.
The Dolphins are the other club which has defied grim off-season roster forecasts.
Despite having a full salary cap to spend, they missed out on several marquee free agents but the established stars they did land have formed the nucleus of a team which has a respectable 8-10 record.
Jesse Bromwich, Aitken, Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Tom Gilbert delivered, as expected, but Wayne Bennett has uncovered diamonds in the rough in Connelly Lemuelu and Jamayne Isaako while teenage half Isaiya Katoa has lived up to the hype as a star of the future.
Connelly Lemuelu. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Looking back at who’s delivered and who’s fallen short of pre-season expectations, Bulldogs fans have every right to be up in arms about their team’s dismal state as they wallow in 15th spot with just six wins from 18 starts.
No club had more roster turnover than the Dogs last off-season but Viliame Kikau’s season has been ruined by a torn pec and Reed Mahoney has tackled his guts out but the club is still no closer to ending their finals drought which stretches back to 2016.
It is their second-worst dry spell in club history behind a 12-year stretch from 1948-59.
Stephen Crichton is on his way to Belmore next year but the chequebook campaign has made little impact in the past couple of seasons. It’s very hard for any club, even one with a proud tradition of success like the Bulldogs, to buy their way out of trouble.
1 Reece Walsh
2 Jamayne Isaako
3 Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow
4 Euan Aitken
5 Greg Marzhew
6 Luke Metcalf
7 Isaiya Katoa
8 Jesse Bromwich
9 Jeremy Marshall-King
10 Tom Gilbert
11 Jackson Ford
12 Marata Niukore
13 J’maine Hopgood
14 Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad
15 Mitch Barnett
16 Connelly Lemuelu
17 Oregon Kaufusi
18th Zac Hosking