Cronulla Sharks win NRL grand final: Shane Flanagan victim of the perfect Esky soaking at full time
EVERYTHING went right for the Sharks at ANZ Stadium last night. They even managed to pull off a textbook Esky soak on Shane Flanagan. WATCH IT HERE...
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Shane Flanagan will forever be remembered as the first coach to lead Cronulla to a premiership win after they defeated Melbourne 14-12 in the NRL grand final at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
But his jubilant players managed to suppress their reverence for their leader for long enough to make him the — presumably not to upset — victim of a perfectly executed Esky soaking.
Amid scenes of wild celebrations on the ANZ pitch, Flanagan was busy enjoying himself with a bunch of long suffering Sharks fans who had just witnessed the end of a half century hoodoo.
Creeping between players, cheerleaders and the assembled press, Jayson Bukuya an Chad Townsend snuck up on Flanagan with ninja-like stealth, though still required the intervention of match winner Andrew Fifita to tease the coach away from the stands.
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Turning to embrace his hard running forward, Flanagan was now a prime target to have the contents of a drinks cooler dumped over his head.
On an evening when everything went right for the Sharks, even their hi jinx found the mark to perfection.
It was just one of those nights.