Cronulla Sharks players get tattoos to commemorate their historic grand final victory
GALLERY: WITH a quick spell check, it was time to burn grand final glory into their flesh. Sharks players hit Sydney’s CBD to get inked up to permanently commemorate the club’s first premiership win.
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WITH a quick spell check, it was time to burn grand final glory into their flesh.
Sharks players hit Sydney’s CBD yesterday to get inked up to permanently commemorate the club’s first premiership win.
Captain Paul Gallen assembled a group of 12 willing players including Ben Barba, Valentine Holmes, Mick Ennis, Wade Graham and Jack Bird and boarded a bus from the Shire to the Clarence St tattoo parlour where his mate Glen Middleton works.
“The only tattoos I’ve got before this is that of my kids names, so I think that gives you an understanding of what winning the premiership means to me and my teammates,” Gallen said.
“In 10, 20, 30 years time, we’ll always have the memories, but with a tattoo we’ll also have a permanent reminder of that day we created history for our club, our community and our supporters.”
Gallen chose to go the full Sharks motif on the inner arm, while Holmes opted for text around the left wrist.
Grand final tryscorer Andrew Fifita was not among those making the trip but other players were expected to get designs done independently.
The lads were still in party mode yesterday as Graham ended a lifelong ink boycott.
“Unlike the majority of boys, this is my first tattoo,” he said. “I’ve never wanted one before, but I suppose if I was ever going to get one, this would be it.
“It’s a lifetime achievement to win a premiership, but to do it with these boys, makes it all that more special.”
Middleton, who has already tattooed Gallen once before with the name of one of his children, said it was an honour to be called in.
“He messaged me at 7am and said, ‘There are 12 of us’ ... It’s a real milestone for them so I was happy to do them a favour,” Middleton, who is booked out until January, said.
He was slowly going through his superstar list last night, with each tattoo taking about an hour.
The players had a range of designs to choose from, with many preferring elegant text reading “Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Premiers 2016” rather than a Sharks logo.
Star forward Chris Heighington’s only other tattoo was his premiership stamp from his 2005 win with Wests Tigers.
“I’ll run out of skin if I keep winning these things,” Heighington said.
For speedster Holmes, a little grand final ink was the perfect way to mark the day he was also named in the Australian Kangaroos squad for the Four Nations tournament.
“I had some great news today and some of the boys decided to get tattoos done so I’m jumping on it as well,” Holmes told The Daily Telegraph.
The party doesn’t look like ending any time soon for Cronulla Sharks fans, with blue balloons, banners and Up Up Cronulla signs still festooned across the Shire. From the footy flags on tradie utes and the Shark cupcakes at the bakery, to the local bookstore display of fearsome shark books, this is a victory Shire residents don’t want anybody to forget.
There’s even talk of commissioning a statue at Shark Park to immortalise the hug between legend Andrew Ettingshausen and captain Paul Gallen.
At Karmila Kuts in Cronulla Mall, hairdressers are doing a roaring trade in etching shark designs on heads.
“I had to get the design right with a few practice cuts, but now I’ve got it down pat,” says owner Karmila Chambers, who didn’t have time for lunch yesterday with the crowd of fans coming through her door.
Four-year-old Bobby Magri, from Kurnell, was keen to celebrate the win with the special shark logo carved right into the back of his Number 2 cut.
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