Buzz: Cronulla Sharks living in leadership denial following Dale Finucane's retirement
Not long after spiritual leader Dale Finucane was forced into medical retirement, the Cronulla Sharks have fallen in a heap. Their on-field leadership desperately needs to be addressed, writes PHIL ROTHFIELD.
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Sometimes you don’t appreciate the true value of a great NRL player until he retires.
Not long after middle-forward warrior Dale Finucane was forced into medical retirement, the Sharks have fallen in a heap.
At the back end of his career Finucane was no gamebreaker like Payne Haas, James Fisher-Harris or Lindsay Collins but he was the spiritual leader at the Sharks who set high standards.
The man you could rely on in the tougher times that every NRL side experiences.
Not just on the footy field but in the sheds.
It’s easy for CEO Dino Mezzatesta to blame a tackle count blunder on Friday night for the loss to the Titans in Coffs Harbour – but that’s living in denial.
The Sharks’ biggest problem is that they are lacking on-field leadership.
You go back to coach Craig Fitzgibbon’s comments when Finucane was forced to quit.
“Dale changed the way a lot of the players think about their preparation, how they approach a game and the meticulous detail in getting yourself to the best state you can be,” Fitzgibbon said.
“That’s the sort of player our younger guys have looked up to and they marvel at a guy who still takes no shortcuts.
“He’s changed the fabric of the way the boys prepare for a game of footy, the way they carry themselves.”
Couldn’t the Sharks do with Finucane right now.
Since Magic Round they have lost five out of six to Penrith (42-0), the Parramatta Eels, the Dolphins, the Bulldogs and the Titans.
Somehow they are still in the top four with a favourable draw in the run home in which they don’t have to play the Panthers, Storm or the Roosters.
Yet this is all new for Fitzgibbon, who has never experienced a slump like this one in his time at Cronulla.
His team has gone flat and fragile.
Their leaders Nicho Hynes and Cameron McInnes are both struggling.
Hynes is the face of the crisis and under the blowtorch more than any other player in the competition.
Other players botch field goal attempts – Chad Townsend missed three in Townsville on Saturday night – but don’t get the same headlines in the paper the next day.
It’s fair enough because Nicho is a million-dollar player and the spotlight comes with his pay packet.
But there are other issues.
Middle forwards Toby Rudolf and Braden Hamlin-Uele are on big money but struggling.
The grunt and mongrel in their performances disappeared when Finucane retired.
Hooker Blayke Brailey has gone from being an Origin contender to just another player.
The problem is there are few options in the selection room to strengthen a team that has gone stale.
It comes back to lack of recruitment in the off-season. While other teams were boosting their rosters, the Sharks signed only one player, Billy Burns.
They parted company with Matt Moylan, Connor Tracey and Wade Graham.
Fitzgibbon backed himself and his coaching staff to get more out of the current top 30.
This has been a painful column to write because I love my Sharks.
I watch in envy of the energy and resolve that is the trademark of the Canterbury Bulldogs right now.
Their forwards are playing so fearlessly. It reminds me of the way Dale Finucane used to play.
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