The cliché is that winning starts in the front office, so is Lyall Gorman the Sharks most important signing? |
Although they left 2014 with a wooden spoon, the bitter taste of running last shouldn’t deter them from looking back for positives. Wins against finals series-contending sides the Broncos, Roosters and Panthers midway through the season when no one was giving them a chance, proved the fight still left in the black, white and blue. This period also allowed Sharks youngsters to emerge and offer glimpses of hope for long suffering fans. Wingers, Jacob Gagan and Valentine Holmes, the later an Australian Junior Kangaroo in 2014, showed that talent continues to pop up at the Sharks, who have one of the largest junior Rugby League catchments in Sydney.
With players
from the 2011 season who are still are the club having served their bans, Cronulla
will finally be able to enter the season with a fresh start. They will also be
joined by another wave of new signings including highly creditable additions of
Michael Ennis and Ben Barba. Notably, Kyle Stanley and Gerard Beale will move
over from St. George-Illawarra, and Mitch Brown joins the squad from the Canterbury-Bankstown
Bulldogs. Great additions to a team already boasting Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis
and Chris Heighington, but the problem in years gone by involving recruits to the
Shire, is that they come from other clubs as lively and prospective signings, but
seem to drop away and put simply, diminish at the Sharks. Examples include Wests
Tigers centre Blake Ayshford and Dragons premiership winner Matt Prior. League
fans from all over will recall them starring for their former clubs, but at the
sharks, they offered very little. The absence of a Head Coach last year cuts
such recruits some slack, but why does this continue to happen at Cronulla? Why
do these players end up like this? Is the culture and coaching system not where
it should be?
Critical to
the Sharks season in 2015 will be the mindset of Flanagan. Will he have the
Sharks run with an attitude of being beaten into the ground for the last two
seasons and adopt a siege mentality, much like Des Hasler’s Manly teams?
Such a
style might suit new recruit Mick Ennis, who is a nitty-gritty competitor who
does all he can to get a win. Ben Barba will also be out with a point to prove
having had a poor season at the Broncos in 2014 and been dumped by Wayne Bennet
before pre season.
Flanagan may simply opt to move on from the past, learn from
it and implement new ideas and structures to suit his squad. The recent naming
of Luke Lewis as captain of the team for the Auckland Nines could be an
indication of Flanagan’s new plans, with Paul Gallen in the spotlight since his
infamous tweet to those at NRL headquarters late last year. Mick Ennis could be
an option to lead the team if Flanagan’s chooses for Paul Gallen to simply play
his game, rather than have the added responsibilities of captain. Gallen, who
plays in almost every league game possible being a NSW and Australian representative,
could benefit from a lesser role.
The approaching
development of the Woolooware Bay project around Remondis Stadium will be an
interesting parallel to the Sharks season. Revamping the entire area around the
Sharks home and providing much needed long-term financial support, the
development could be seen as the dawn of a new era at the Shire. The club will
also benefit significantly under the leadership of new Chief Executive Lyall
Gorman, who managed the introduction of the Western Sydney Wanderers to the A-League
as Executive Chairman. Gorman, who was also previously the head of the A-league
competition and Chairman of the Central Coast Mariners, brings a unique set of
skills to the Rugby League scene, and signalled his intentions to focus on getting
on with the job rather than skylarking about bold predictions, hosting fan
based forums in the shire just a week after taking up the role.
The Sharks
could look at Phil Gould’s much talked about five year plan for Penrith and
adopt their own steps for success, with a focus on retaining juniors who you always
hear about starring at another NRL club as a ‘former Sharks junior’, keeping
the team out of the spotlight and working towards that long sought after
premiership from within. While achieving success in a short period will win you
the tag-along fans, long term survival and providing fans with a reason to
believe you are building to something special should be at the forefront for
the club.
This is the
year that Cronulla finally has to step up and stamp its place as a club that
can support its self, and compete in the dense Sydney NRL market. Expansion is undoubtedly
on the minds of those who run the NRL, and relocation has been more than just
thrown up. There are no excuses this time around; it’s time Cronulla proved
their worth to the NRL competition as a club.
Exciting,
but important times are ahead for the Sharks this year. #UpUpCronulla.