NRL 2022: Covid-hit coach Craig Fitzgibbon backs Dale Finucane to take charge for the Sharks
Craig Fitzgibbon will lean on premiership winner Dale Finucane to spearhead the Sharks, as the rookie coach prepares to call the shots on the phone from his lounge room on the NSW south coast.
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Stuck 250 kilometres away from Canberra, rookie Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon has backed new captain and recruit Dale Finucane to “spearhead” his troops against the Raiders on Friday night.
Finucane, a seasoned campaigner of 218 NRL games and two premiership victories, captained Melbourne in all 17 games played for the Storm last season.
Fitzgibbon, who won’t travel to the match after testing positive to Covid on Monday, will be leaning on the veteran to draw on all that experience in round one.
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“The players will be looking to him and he won’t disappoint,” Fitzgibbon said. “He’ll go out and execute the role, like he always does. He speaks so clearly. He doesn’t waste his words.
“He speaks clearly, He’s so articulate in his messaging, I’m sure the guys will grow off that confidence on the weekend.”
As an assistant to Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters, where the duo won three titles during their time together, Fitzgibbon was a first-hand witness to the indelible mark that the professionalism of players like Sonny Bill Williams and Cooper Cronk left on the culture of the Bondi club.
The 44-year-old can already see Finucane, who arrived in the Shire from Craig Bellamy’s successful system in Melbourne, having a similar impact at the Sharks.
“You have certain players that, when they are in your team or they line-up for you, they instil confidence to the players around them and confidence to the staff and confidence to the entire club … a guy of his stature is held in high regard for a reason,” Fitzgibbon said.
“Dale is crucial in that leadership role, with Wade [Graham] being injured at the moment. It’s a testament to his stature in the game that he has taken the role there for us.
“I’m confident, everyone is on the same page and aligned and Dale will spearhead that. I trust in the whole group as well.”
After a 10-year apprenticeship at the Tricolours, Covid has denied Fitzgibbon a dream debut as an NRL head coach after testing positive for the virus on Monday, forcing him into a seven-day isolation period.
On top of missing three training sessions during the week, Fitzgibbon will not get to deliver the final message to players in person before taking the field.
Instead, it will be done via a video link from the ‘downstairs lounge room’ of Fitzgibbon’s family home on the NSW south coast.
Fitzgibbon will decide on game day whether there will be a direct phone link into the coach’s box during the game, where assistants Josh Hannay and Steven Price will be in charge.
“It’s not the ideal debut,” Fitzgibbon said. “When they will be at the ground and I’m at home watching on TV, I miss a lot of the stuff that goes on in the background. I’ve got to empower those guys to make some strong decisions.”
Fitzgibbon had been taking precautions to limit any potential exposure to the virus in the lead-up to round one.
“I had a hundred thoughts. The immediate one was ‘no, it’s not right’,” Fitzgibbon said about returning a positive rapid antigen test.
“I had been super diligent and laying low. You go through a range of emotions and then realise you can’t control the situation. It’s comforting to know I have the strong staff to be able to take care of that.”
Price was part of Cronulla’s coaching staff when the club won the title in 2016, while Hannay was the interim coach during the 2021 season after John Morris was sacked.
SHARKS, STORM HIT AS COVID STRIKES ROUND 1 BLOW
-David Riccio
Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon will deliver his final word to the Sharks just hours before kick-off via a video-link streamed directly to the team’s Canberra hotel.
From his lounge room on the NSW south coast 250km away, the rookie coach will rely on the camera angles of Fox Sports to become his eyes on the ground, while having the option to phone his staff and players at half-time.
Welcome to the first-look inside the NRL’s Covid-crippling 2022 season, which only last week, triggered a warning from club CEO’s that the unpredictability and last-minute unavailability of players and coaches will develop into the story of the year.
Instead of launching his NRL coaching career against the Raiders at GIO Stadium at 6pm on Friday night, Fitzgibbon’s dream moment of sitting inside the coaches’ box, in charge of his first NRL team, has been sensationally delayed after the Cronulla coach returned a Covid positive test. He has been isolated since Monday.
The coach had arrived at PointsBet Stadium early on Monday morning, before the players were due to arrive for training.
A routine RAT test showed Fitzgibbon was positive and he immediately returned to his home to begin his mandatory seven-day isolation period.
Fitzgibbon believes he contracted Covid from a family member.
He will be free to exit isolation well in advance of the Sharks’ first home game of the season, against the Eels on Saturday night, March 19.
The Sharks have no concern that any player has come into contact with Fitzgibbon.
Meticulous in his planning, Fitzgibbon’s preparations for the Raiders clash has been mapped out for several weeks, leaving highly-experienced assistant coaches Steve Price and Josh Hannay to step up and take over the training sessions.
The Sharks will travel by bus to stay at a Canberra hotel on Thursday afternoon with Price and Hannay in charge of seeing-through their boss’ game-plan.
The duo will be the dominant voices in the dressing room before the Sharks run out against Canberra, while fellow assistant coach Daniel Holdsworth will be an on-field voice as the club’s blue-shirt trainer.
Throughout this week, Fitzgibbon has continued to lead every team meeting, one-on-one discussions with players and game strategy sessions via video link from his home.
“Obviously the timing of this isn’t ideal, you can take all the precautions as I have in following NRL apollo advice and protocols, but with four children at home unfortunately it has caught up with our family at an inopportune time,’’ Fitzgibbon said.
“My health is fine and symptoms mild, I look forward to getting back amongst the group next week and I will be in constant communications with the coaches and players.’’
On debut for the club, Dale Finucane will captain the Sharks in the absence of injured skipper Wade Graham (ankle).
Given their experience, Price and Hannay provide Fitzgibbon with much comfort.
A member of the premiership-winning Sharks coaching staff in 2016, Price has returned to the Cronulla club after a successful stint in charge of Warrington in the UK Super League, while Hannay capably took over the reins as interim NRL coach at the Sharks during the 2021 season.
STORM LOSE SKIPPER FOR SEASON OPENER
-Nick Smart
Melbourne Storm has suffered a huge blow ahead of its Round 1 clash with star co-captain Jesse Bromwich to miss due to Covid protocols.
Bromwich has been deemed a close contact after a member of his family tested positive to the virus.
It is the second member of Bromwich’s family to test positive, which means the front-rower has missed two weeks of training back-to-back.
He will miss Storm’s road clash with Wests Tigers and has been replaced in Storm’s 24-man squad by Tepai Moeroa.
Bromwich will be in isolation until next Wednesday and will be available for next Thursday night’s AAMI Park clash with the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Front-rower Nelson Asofa Solomona, who was originally named on the bench, would be the red-hot favourite to replace Bromwich in the run-on side.
He has had an interrupted pre-season due to his vaccine hesitancy, but returned to the Storm program early last month.
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Originally published as NRL 2022: Covid-hit coach Craig Fitzgibbon backs Dale Finucane to take charge for the Sharks
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