Sharks out to beat Monday night blues

JUST like The Shire, Cronulla have proved truly tough to watch on a Monday night this season.

Shane Flanagan

JUST like The Shire, Cronulla have proved truly tough to watch on a Monday night this season.

While ratings for the Channel 10 reality series continue to plummet, the Sharks have fared only slightly better in the timeslot.

As they prepare for tonight's match-up against the Storm in Melbourne, Cronulla will do so knowing they've won just one of their previous six Monday night encounters.

While his team is already assured of a finals berth, Sharks coach Shane Flanagan knows victory will help the Shire club gather a full head of steam for September.

"That's the way we're looking at it," Flanagan said.

"We have to play these teams (like Melbourne) in the finals, so it's good to get a crack at them now. Next week (against the Cowboys) will be huge, too. It's the last game before the semi-final series at home on a Sunday afternoon. It will be massive.

"But we're not looking past Melbourne. They're in form, and it has all coincided with Billy (Slater) coming back into form.

"He brings the best out of some of their other players as well. He brings the best out of their team.

"He makes Cooper Cronk more dangerous when he runs, and he makes Cameron (Smith) more dangerous when he's around there. They all complement each other."

Flanagan said the Monday record would have been an issue had the Sharks been playing for their season. A victory tonight could keep the Sharks' slim top-four hopes alive.

"We're quite happy to have (Monday night) this week because after the Souths game we needed a bit of a turnaround," he said.

"We had the short turnaround (from the Knights game). Now we'll get the normal turnaround going into next Sunday. We've had quite a few of them this year, so you'd think we'd be used to it.

"The players aren't concerned with what day they play, especially this time of year. We put a fair bit into that Souths game. We had a few days off and hopefully we'll be fresh going into this Melbourne game."

Prop Ben Ross broke his hand two months ago, but Flanagan said he had responded well to being rested against the Bunnies.

He is still to decide whether to play Ross or Tyson Frizell, with both players making the trip south. Fullback Matthew Wright will also play, despite being troubled by a shoulder injury.