
When Greg Inglis dived over for the match winning try in the final seconds against Brisbane on Saturday night, the Storm’s Preliminary Final opponents could not have been happier with the result.
For one the Cronulla-Sutherland players had just watched the Broncos bash the Storm’s pack from pillar to post for 80 minutes just a week after the Warriors did the same thing, plus they’d witnessed the reigning premiers fail to hit their stride at any stage for the second consecutive finals match and thirdly, knew that Melbourne skipper Cameron Smith was bound to be rubbed out for the rest of the 2008 season thanks to yet another pathetic and gutless attack on the head of an opponent with the ball.
The cards were being dealt and the Sharks were picking up pocket aces.
By the Storm picked their cards up it was Monday morning and what they thought would be as high as a pair of kings which normally comes with the Minor Premiership, had been downgraded to a classic ‘Montana Banana’ (9, 2, off suit) thanks to the charge of Smith and they realised that the river has to be beyond generous to get into the game.
But enough poker talk (although if you’re a Manly-Warringah fan you’re now encouraged to get involved in the high stakes poker world thanks to a new sponsor they’ve got on board… check their website for details) and back to the footy.
In short, Melbourne are in deep poop entering Friday’s clash and the Sharks are holding all the aces.
In their Qualifying Final defeat of the Raiders, Cronulla demonstrated the kind of composure under pressure that only the best teams have at the pointy end of the year. Canberra had all the quality field position in the first half and yet at halftime the Sharks had built a 14-0 lead thanks largely to their ability to take full advantage of the three scoring opportunities presented to them by the Raiders. Had Luke Covell’s radar been on target, an 18-0 lead would’ve completely shut the Raiders out of the contest. By the time the Sharks had responded to an early Canberra try in the second half with one of their own, Brett Kimmorley then demonstrated why he is back to the kind of game controlling form he had at the turn of the century as he pinned the Raiders back into their own end and choked them out of the game entirely. The end score might have flattered the Sharks slightly but it underlined that Coach Ricky Stuart has his team committed to finishing the job when they get in a position to win.
The Sharks last loss was to the Warriors in Auckland in Round 23 and on that cold wet Saturday night ball control was the primary reason for their downfall. The pack also found the going tough in the heavy conditions and have spent the past month making up for that performance by being the driving force in the team’s current four game winning streak (defeating the Roosters, Tigers, Cowboys and Raiders in the process).
Up front the much maligned Ben Ross has finally found his go-forward mojo and veterans Danny Nutley and Adam Peek are doing a good job in the front row rotation. The backrow has been the strength of the Sharks for the last few years and even with the retirement of Lance Thompson and the club’s decision to stand down of Greg Bird late in the year, the Sharks are still finding that the more things change in numbers 11, 12, and 13 the more they stay the same in terms of contribution to the team. Paul Gallen has moved to lock full time and has had a superb season carrying the hitup workload and third year prop Luke Douglas has moved to the second row to cover for Bird which is benefiting the youngster’s game greatly as he had been on the brink of burning out up front. But the real revelation in the backrow has been the transformation of Fraser Anderson by Coach Stuart from former outside back with suspect hands into a battering ram in both attack and defence on the right edge for the Sharks. When the Sharks lost Reece Williams to injury after just two rounds the Sharks needed someone to step up in that role and Anderson has been better than anyone could’ve hoped for. Another bonus is that all three played the full 80 minutes against the Raiders so Stuart can carry up to three props on his bench – Kade Snowden, Bryan Norrie and Nutley.
