Cronulla is a really good team. They’re entertaining to watch, score a lot of points, win a lot of games, and have a generally pleasant demeanor.
It’s difficult to criticize a team that boasts Craig Fitzgibbon, one of the most charming and eloquent managers, and Nicho Hynes, one of the nicest guys in the league, as its key public figures.
There’s definitely an obvious line here about kind folks coming last, and the Sharks may enjoy it come finals time. Fitzy currently has a 0-3 record.
Their 2016 debuts were far from appealing, but they surely got the job done. Winners don’t mind if they make friends along the road.
For anyone halfway through a series that employs statistics to settle outstanding questions in line-ups and recruitment, the 2024 Sharks are an unmitigated nightmare.
There are no questions, nor is there any recruitment. Their 1-17, as described in our Round Preview, is identical to the one that finished last year.
They lost Wade Graham, but he was a bench utility player, along with Matt Moylan, who was released in midseason, and Connor Tracey, who was only stepping in because Will Kennedy, the starting fullback, and Kade Dykes, the next man up, were both injured.
The inclusion of Addin Fonua-Blake for 2025 demonstrates that they have identified their middle as a weakness, which is evident from the data.
Fitzgibbon was given a relatively small pack and leaned into it by adopting an offensive approach that emphasized quickness over size.
Looking at the data, this is evident in the speed with which they play the ball – third best after the Panthers and Roosters – which clearly prioritizes get down and get up above grappling.
They rely their back five to get them started, which should free up their middles for defensive duties – but this isn’t always the case.
Toby Rudolf and Braden Hamlin-Uele rank very low among starting props in terms of tackle efficiency (surprise, surprise, AFB is one of the top), which can contribute to the Sharks losing the middle and allowing space out wide against the best packs.
Their ability to keep teams out of their own red zone was impressive, as they conceded the fourth fewest metres, but this did not always translate into a solid defence.
Remember, we’re not trying to make Cronulla better; we’re trying to make them the best. Against the really good teams, it was evident that parts of the edge defense were not up to the task.
Siosifa Talakai was a noted weakness. He one of the worst in the comp among regular centres for Line Breaks Caused (LBC), a measure of bad reads.
Ironically, he sits right next to Morgan Harper, whom he famously gave a bath in Anzac Round of 2022.
Normally, one could suggest that this is a function of the way that the team plays, in the sense that defeat in the middle is felt out wide, but on the other side, Jesse Ramien has no such troubles. He’s one of the best defensive centres around.
Talakai is also second last for one-on-one tackles, just worse than Justin Olam, who was dropped from the Storm, a challenger to the Sharks, for his poor defence, and worse than Joseph Suaalii, whom the Roosters shifted away from the centres for the same reason.
Talakai is a nice metaphor for Fitzgibbon’s issue. His tackling will certainly hold back any chances Cronulla have of holding out on the goalline against the best attacks, who know that he can be isolated, but the Tonga international is a superb attacking player and adds so much on that side of the ball. It’s a circle they need to square.
There are, however, green shoots. Kayal Iro is the next cab off the rank for centres and might get a look in, especially if Talakai continues to tackle the way he has been.
Should that happen, it’s likely the big centre will revert to either the backrow, where he started, or the bench, where he can provide spark and flexibility. The potential for a properly elite attacking edge forward is there and, two men further in, the defensive liabilities might be masked.
The lack of size in the pack could be assisted by the arrival of Talakai, and the further exposure to first grade of Tom Hazleton.
(Photo by Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
The mammoth bench forward rates as the best in the NRL for Involvement Rate among players to have played at least ten games, meaning he provides the maximum amount of effort per minute of anyone coming off the interchange.
Last year, Cronulla ran a very strange rotation, with Hazleton, Colquhoun and Royce Hunt all averaging 25 minutes each, plus Rudolf on 45 and Hamlin-Uele on 39.
They relied a lot on other players being able to come in and fill time, whether Cam McInnes or Dale Finucane from lock, Oregon Kaufusi as a depth option or Jack Williams as a forward utility.
Hazleton has shown in his limited minutes thus far that he can handle more, and the plan has to be to made that happen. He can add that bulk, at least until Addin arrives.
There’s the old adage that there are only three positions in rugby league – halfback, front row and everyone else.
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