Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon’s brutal honesty session with Sharks players after shock Broncos loss

Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon has delivered one of the most confronting honesty sessions of his career, telling Sharks players to take accountability for their second-half fade out against Brisbane.

The Cronulla playing group have revealed coach Craig Fitzgibbon has led one of the most confronting honesty sessions of his coaching career following the side’s 16-point collapse against the Broncos last Sunday.

The Wednesday morning meeting held behind closed doors at Sharks Stadium included players being told to take accountability for their second-half fade out after leading 28-12 against Brisbane and their current form of one win from their last four matches.

The Sharks lack of discipline with the ball and poor defence – a previously regarded cornerstone to Cronulla’s playing group – was also a major discussion point.

Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon delivered one of the most confronting honesty sessions of his career after Cronulla’s Round 16 loss to the Broncos. Picture Thomas Lisson

The Sharks conceded seven penalties to four and missed 47 tackles against the Broncos.

“Every now and then, when you’re having performances like we are, you have to put a stake in the ground and Fitzy (Fitzgibbon) has definitely made it clear what he wants from us,” Sharks forward Teig Wilton said.

“He wants us to be accountable for how we’re performing and we definitely got some clarity around that this morning.’’

Asked how the harsh reality was received by the players, Wilton replied: “I think everyone received it well.

“I think everyone loves and respects Fitzy (Fitzgibbon) and our coaching staff so much that we want to perform for them and we want to perform for the club.

“There’s too much respect here for us to take it personally. We all want to be better and for us as a whole.”

The Sharks lack of discipline with the ball and poor defence has come under scrutiny. Picture: Getty Images

Cronulla are sitting in sixth-position on the NRL ladder with a win against the Dragons among their most recent losses against the Roosters, Warriors and Broncos.

They will start the longest odds of any team to play this weekend when they face the Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday.

Sharks forward Addin Fonua-Blake said the meeting was both deserved and timely in the context of a collective desire in wanting to rediscover their best form in the run to the finals.

“The performance on the weekend was definitely not good enough,” Fonua-Blake said.

“It wasn’t up to any of our personal standards.

“We had a few honest conversations and we’re really looking forward to rectifying that this weekend.

The Sharks lead 28-12 against the Broncos and went on to lose 34-28. Picture: Getty Images

“Everyone here is a man, there’s no sooks. No one is going to sook about it.

“There’s nothing to sook about, its only the truth about what was told.

“We all took it well and we went out there and trained hard (on Wednesday).

“We’ve got another training session tomorrow and I feel like the boys took a lot out of the conversation.

“We’re definitely going to take our lessons and get going because Melbourne aren’t going to be feeling not one bit of sympathy for us.

“We thought its time now to rectify it rather than after the season. We’ve still got a good opportunity ahead of us to make a charge towards the end of the year and that’s what we want to do.”

Wilton, Fonua-Blake and Cronulla five-eighth Braydon Trindall rejected any notion of scrutinised halfback Nicho Hynes being moved from the playmaking role.

Sharks players have rejected calls to move Nicho Hynes out of the halves. Picture: Getty Images

“No, I think he’s right where he is. We need to become consistent as a team, this isn’t just on Nicho,’’ Trindall said.

Trindall, who conceded his own game was disappointing by kicking out on the full and “also my overall body language”, said he welcomed the constructive criticism from the Sharks coaches.

“It’s always good to front up and be a man about it and take accountability,” Trindall said.

“It’s good to have those honest conversations with each other.

“Watching the game back is pretty tough to watch. It doesn’t always feel like that when you’re in the game and when you watch it back. it’s ten times worse.

“It (the pressure) comes with the position, its usually always on your halves, but I’m happy to cop that and Nicho is copping a fair bit of it, we just need to take it as a team.

“We scored enough points to win the game on the weekend, so there’s a definite focus on our defence and its also on us putting them in the right spots on the field and our defence backing it up.’’

Originally published as Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon’s brutal honesty session with Sharks players after shock Broncos loss