Shane Flanagan has plan to take Andrew Fifita’s game to the next level
SHANE Flanagan is making plans to change the way the Andrew Fifita is utilised in a bid to squeeze even more out of his power game.
Sharks
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IF you thought Andrew Fifita couldn’t get any better, you thought wrong.
The rampaging prop is currently leading the the Dally M count on the back of a string of strong performances for Cronulla.
And coach Shane Flanagan is making plans to change the way the Tongan international is utilised in a bid to squeeze even more out of his power game.
Fifita has carried the Sharks’ pack, which over the last month had been in the midst of an injury crisis with the likes of Luke Lewis and co-captains Paul Gallen and Wade Graham sidelined.
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It meant he was forced to play increased minutes and the 118kg prop even played the full eighty in his side’s come from behind win against the Raiders last weekend.
But in an attempt to preserve his form and impact, Flanagan says he will be used as a power forward rather than endurance player.
“It’s hard to keep that up for 26 rounds and into a finals series,” he said.
“We’ve got to change his role a little bit … he won’t be playing those minutes that he has been over the last two weeks with Gallen, Lewis and Graham coming back in I’ll be able to pull those minutes back and hopefully we can see a more explosive powerful Andrew Fifita rather than having to balance his game over 80 minutes.
“It’s not something that we want to do because he is a big, strong, powerful player and we want to use that rather than use him as that endurance based athlete.”
Flanagan is expecting to at least have Gallen (knee) and Jayson Bukuya (virus) back on Sunday afternoon when his side goes searching for their fifth-straight win against Canterbury at Shark Park.
“Nothing’s certain in this game but he [Gallen] trained well and everything’s on track,” he said.
“Over the next couple of weeks we should get a few (of players) back.
“Luke Lewis is very close, Wade Graham’s probably next week as well.”
Also a chance of making an early return from a foot injury is Josh Dugan.
Flanagan revealed the fullback is ahead of schedule and has been running at training all week with no pain.
“Duges trained well (on Thursday) so he’s a chance to play, we’ll just have to see how he pulls up today,” he said.
“He is a lot earlier than expected. The fracture in his foot, it wasn’t fractured right though the bone, it was more chipped off the side and it wasn’t displaced.
“Those decisions will be made on Saturday.”
The Sharks have hit a purple patch after managing only two wins from the first six rounds and in an ominous warning to the Bulldogs, Flanagan says his side is only getting better by the week.
“The qualities of this team has changed over the last 12 months with some new players coming into the squad, Dugan and Matt Moylan in particular, and just getting a feel for those players in the team ... how they fit in and how we need to evolve around those kinds of players.
“It’s getting better week after week and it will just keep improving.”