Josh Dugan, Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis battling to face Melbourne
CRONULLA fans face an anxious week with Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis and Josh Dugan all racing to be fit to face Melbourne Storm. But none of these blokes will go down without a fight.
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BRING the aggro Josh.
That’s the passionate call from retiring Sharks forward Luke Lewis to Josh Dugan, who is firming to return from a shoulder injury in Friday night’s preliminary final against Melbourne at AAMI Park.
In what would prove perfectly-timed boost for Cronulla, Dugan’s prospects to beat a shoulder injury have spiked after a rigorous training session on Tuesday.
The same can’t be said for co-captain Paul Gallen, whose hopes of overcoming his own shoulder issue remains unlikely.
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Lewis, who is desperate to retire with a fairytale grand final finish, said Dugan’s big-game experience and physicality would prove invaluable against a fresh and fired-up Storm.
Dugan missed last week’s elimination final win over Penrith — compounding a week which included an admission of his emotional struggle with the media.
“Duges’ is looking great, he got through all his work on Monday and had a really good run today,’’ Lewis said.
“He’s lifted some good weights in the gym and so I’m pretty confident he’ll be right to go.
“He had a good opportunity to get away, freshen up his body and clear his head.
“He’s going to come out, hopefully when he’s playing on Friday night and when he’s at his best, is when he’s super-aggressive and fingers crossed he’s aggressive on Friday night.’’
Lewis conceded Sharks coach Shane Flanagan faces a difficult decision on how he fits Dugan into the Sharks starting line-up.
However, Dugan’s best performance was against the Storm in round 22 — when playing on the right wing, he scored a crucial try in the Sharks 17-14 victory over Melbourne at AAMI Park.
“I’m not sure how it’s all going to line-up, I’d hate to be a coach because Flanno has a couple of big decisions in front of him,’’ Lewis said.
Training confidently on Tuesday, Lewis gave himself the green light to tackle Melbourne despite failing to finish the match with a corked calf last Friday night.
Lewis conceded Gallen was racing the clock to overcome ligament damage in his left shoulder.
“To me, he looks a lot better than obviously last Friday night,’’ Lewis said. “He’s still got a few more days up his sleeve to try and get his injury right.
“Only Gal will know and he’s got a big 48-hours to make sure he’s good to go.
“However, there’s one thing that I believe this club has built up over the past six years and that’s that we don’t base what we do around one player.
“That’s what I like what ‘Flanno’ has done here — whatever player has come in, has to step up and do their role what is best for the team and the club.’’
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