Monday meeting to determine future of Cronulla coach John Morris

Cronulla’s chief executive is set to hold crunch talks with representatives of John Morris, with the meeting to determine the coach’s future.

The future of Sharks coach John Morris could be determined at a Monday meeting

Cronulla chief executive Dino Mezzatesta will hold crunch talks with John Morris and his management on Monday morning after spending the weekend fending off reports the club was in the process of finalising a deal with Sydney Roosters assistant Craig Fitzgibbon.

Morris’s future has been in the spotlight for months and it flared over the weekend after The Weekend Australian revealed the club had identified Fitzgibbon as his preferred successor.

It also emerged a third party had shopped Morris to Manly, only to be told the Sea Eagles were committed to their coach Des Hasler.

That move was seen as an attempt to put more pressure on the Sharks to re-sign Morris after the club gave him two months to convince them that he was the right man for the job.

The Sharks identified three potential replacements for Morris. Fitzgibbon was their priority but they also spoke to Penrith assistant Cameron Ciraldo and another coach, whose name has been kept a closely guarded secret.
At the same time, Mezzatesta has been locked in talks with Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy over taking on a role as coaching director, part of a dream scenario in which he would oversee a football department headed up by Fitzgibbon.

Bellamy is yet to announce his plans, although he is expected to stay with Melbourne, potentially as head coach for one more year before becoming a coaching director with the club.

It is understood the Sharks and Roosters have already spoken about Fitzgibbon and Cronulla have been given every indication he will be released from the final year of his deal with the Roosters.

Mezzatesta, however, has privately and publicly assured Morris that no decision has been made. The Sharks boss is believed to have sent a text to Morris’s manager Chris Orr on Sunday denying a deal had already been struck with Fitzgibbon.

He confirmed as much to The Australian, although it is believed Mezzatesta has been speaking to prospective candidates for several months as part of his due diligence should the club decide to move on from Morris.

“We have not signed Craig Fitzgibbon,” Mezzatesta said. “We have always said when the time is right, we all come out with a decision on John‘s future. But right now where we stand today, we have not signed Craig Fitzgibbon.”

Morris has done a solid job in his first three years as an NRL coach. He led the Sharks to successive top-eight finishes and started this season with two wins in their opening five games, one of those victories coming against the struggling North Queensland Cowboys.

The club’s game against the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night was seen as a chance for Morris to illustrate he was the man for the job and for a long time it looked as though they would get it done, only to throw away a decisive lead in the final 10 minutes.

With 15 minutes to go in that game, Morris’ future was looking stable. By full-time, he was back under the gun.

His management have been agitating for months to get some clarity from the club. They point out that he has worked with a reduced salary cap due to sanctions that were in place before he took over. Morris is also highly respected by his players, something that has become clear in recent weeks as several have spoken publicly in support of the coach.

This season, he has been without the services of the club’s chief playmaker Shaun Johnson, who is still recovering from injury. Johnson is among a clutch of players who are off contract at the end of the season and the club has delayed any decision on retention and recruitment until they have a clearer picture of who their coach will be next season.

Along with Johnson, Josh Dugan, Matt Moylan and Aaron Woods are yet to negotiate new deals. Mezzatesta and the Sharks board, however, have held their nerve and refused to be rushed into a decision.

The Sharks face winnable matches against undermanned Newcastle and winless Canterbury over the next fortnight before their season ratchets up with games against some of the competition heavyweights.

They have Melbourne, Penrith and South Sydney in successive weeks.