Interviews with Tom Hazelton, Jesse Colquhoun, Sione Katoa and Sifa Talakai (Rd 22, 2026)

[00:00:01] The Royal Motor Yacht Club Port Hacking is a hidden gem of the Shire, situated on the banks of the beautiful Port Hacking. It's a great place to catch up with friends, celebrate your birthday or any special occasion, and they always show the NRL live on the big screens. The RMYC Port Hacking, proud sponsors of this podcast and big supporters of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. Check out their website rmycph.com.au

[00:00:26] They've got a Facebook page, or you could go old school and call them on 029523 9300 SharkCast! Back in the Shire, turn your port slides off because we're coming home with a trophy!

[00:01:05] Hey there, welcome to SharkCast, part of the podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world, the mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. This short, sharp interview-based NRL episode is brought to you by Dysons Logistics, The Royal Motor Yacht Club and Port Hacking, and Jason Hawes at Cripps & Cripps Real Estate. We get our copy from Mr Paisely's in North Caringbah.

[00:01:22] My name is Sam Shinazzi, I'm an OG from 2015, 12 straight seasons of podcasting about this amazing club that keeps us intrigued, fascinated, happy, and mostly content throughout every day of the year. And that's what we're here for you to cover, the mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks.

[00:01:42] On this episode, you're going to hear some really good chats, in my opinion, with Jesse Colquhoun, Sione Katoa, Tall Tom Hazelton, and Mr. 150 himself, Sifat Talakai. Four guys who I love talking to, and very much appreciative of the time they always give.

[00:02:01] We talk about things such as current on-field success, versatility within the team, last week's game and this week's game, milestones, teammates, end of eras, a whole bunch of things. So please, if you have the time, stick around and listen to the interviews coming up really, really soon on this episode. We know we have South Sydney this week, 2 o'clock on Sunday. NRL Dub heads to Wagga on Saturday. I think the kickoff is something kooky, like 11.35.

[00:02:31] It's 11.30, 11.35, I don't have that in front of me, but check that out. Also, while you're checking out the NRL Dub, please keep an eye on our new podcast series. It is called This Is How We Play, and it's in conjunction with the club. I'll have Jada Taylor and myself interviewing different NRLW players for the next month or so, and I'd love your support on that one if I can get it. Please, a click, a share, a like, a listen would be great, obviously.

[00:02:58] Any kind of promotion, any kind of connection with that episode coming out this week and the next three weeks, I would really appreciate it from the bottom of my shark heart. It's something that I really believe in, but also it's a way to show the Cronulla Sharks Club, who I'm really good friends with. It'd be a good way to show them that our audience appreciates when I do connect with them. So, do me a solid. Give it a listen. Give it a share. Give it a like, etc. I think you'll really like it.

[00:03:26] We did the episode today with Madison Ashby, and she's a real character, a great story, amazing athlete, obviously. And I think if you don't know her work, you'll get to know her really quick in this episode. Please get behind it if you can. Now, Sharks NRL, South Sydney Ocean Protect Stadium, Sunday, 2 o'clock. I'm guessing if the sun comes out, it's going to sell out. Sharks are on fire. Souths have a big fan base who are still in contention very much for the finals, and they're usually pretty good games.

[00:03:55] So, if you want to go to the game, I'd grab a ticket now because it will sell out, in my opinion. Sharks have named a pretty strong team. The only person missing of note at the moment from the 22-23 man squad is Toby Rudolph. I believe he has injured his knee again. I'm not sure the severity of it. He may be back next week. I've got no idea. It could be longer. But I do know that he wasn't listed this week, and it's because he's got a sore knee.

[00:04:22] I believe his contract talks are getting closer to sticking around for one more year. So, watch this space on that. Not confirmed, but looking pretty likely. Sharks will have another signing. I believe in the next 24 to few days, maybe. And it's someone that's been spoken of in the press for the past month or so. So, it's not a huge surprise, but it's a pretty cool one. So, watch this space on that, but not my news to break.

[00:04:49] But I think in the next couple of days, you might have officially a new shark for next year. For next year. I was blessed to be in and around the Inner Sanctum today. It's a fit, happy, healthy, very serious team. I watched them train for a while, and they were not holding back. And they looked pretty good. They looked pretty slick. And they were not cutting corners. In fact, they did overtime a little bit.

[00:05:18] And when I say that, I should just use the word extras, not overtime. And it was fascinating to watch the little groups of people, you know, the halves, forwards, the backs, etc. Just doing the extras. It was really quite inspiring to see. And this team really is going all out to provide you, the fan, with a lot of happiness this year. Because they're going really well. And let's hope we keep rolling that way. But they look pretty good today. I want to give a shout-out to Felix Fartili.

[00:05:46] I have watched him grow over the last few years. And his body at the moment looks really, really healthy. Trim, even for a big man. And just very fit-looking Felix Fartili. So, super impressed with him. Liam Eison has been killing it in lower grades. It hasn't gone unnoticed throughout the club. And it doesn't mean that Will Kennedy's in any jeopardy. Because Will Kennedy's killing it. Let's not forget that.

[00:06:13] But Liam Eison, as a backup at the moment, is looking amazing in lower grades. He's a very different player to Will. But he's certainly got some phenomenal attributes. He'll be sticking around. Don't worry about that contract stuff. He'll be sticking around. The fullback position is healthy at least for the next year and a bit. That's for sure. I'm not sure what else I have for you right now. But we'll be pumping out some more episodes before Sunday. And we're working on getting some more to you by then. So, be patient.

[00:06:42] And the last few weeks have been a bit busy, I guess you'd say. And a bit different. So, doing the best we can to keep up with the content. And certainly make it up to you if we ever lead you astray with not enough. But we're on track this week to keep you satisfied, I reckon. So, stay tuned. Subscribe. Like. Do all those things where you can get the episodes straight away. And we've got a lot in store for you. And a lot in store coming up in the future. So, stick with us. It's going to be a fun ride into the finals.

[00:07:11] It's got a great feeling about it. Great storybook. I'm just really excited. So, if you ever want to write to me, sharkcastpod at gmail.com. You can DM on the socials. Most of the socials we're on. And jump on the website, sharkcast.com.au. You can leave a message there. You can leave a voicemail. Keep the voicemail short, please. And that's a way that you can get in touch with me. I love talking sharks. And I love to talk about sharks on this show. So, don't be shy about that kind of thing. If you've got something to say.

[00:07:40] Whether it's who's your favorite player growing up. Or whether it's who's going to play fullback in two years time. Or whatever. I love it all. I love all the sharks bits and pieces. So, we have the best audience in the world. I truly appreciate you all. And let's keep going. Let's keep rolling, rolling, rolling. Having a great time. South's coming to town. We've got West Tigers in NRL Dub. I'm looking for the double. Let's get Flegg and the Jets over the line too. Doesn't stop, right? So, let's keep going. Love it.

[00:08:10] Up Up Cronulla. Enjoy these interviews. I do not take for granted that I get to sometimes do these. I want you to know I don't take it for granted. So, enjoy them. And we'll talk to you real soon. Up Up. Let's go. Tom Hazelton is out there. Look at his steam under the ball. He's enormous. He looks like Peter Garrett steaming down. It's all Tom Hazleton. How are you, my friend? How's the body? How's the mind? Yeah, I'm good. Bit of a week off last week.

[00:08:37] Just a bit of an issue with the back that's all resolved now. So, fighting fit and looking forward to getting back home. And yeah, looking forward to getting out in Plains South on the weekend, mate. What are you like on the sideline when you can't get out there for the game? Are you a calm watcher of the game or do you get emotionally involved? What's it like? A one-off's alright. Last year when it was three months, it was awful. Sort of, you ride the emotions regardless.

[00:09:06] And, you know, when you win, it's good. And when you lose and you see everyone hurting and, you know, you sort of don't have any direct input or, you know, direct, you know, influence, I guess, on the result, it can be difficult. So, yeah, it's obviously a lot easier when they play like they did on the weekend as well. But, yeah, it's sort of been the theme of the last few weeks. It's, you know, had a few good scorelines.

[00:09:33] But, you know, I think the start of the game's been, you know, in the balance a lot. And it's taken us sort of 10, 15, 20 minutes to, I suppose, get a moment and capitalise on it. And, you know, in years previous, it's something that we probably haven't done that well is being able to weather the storm and then kick on with it. So, it's an exciting place to be in. Yeah, it's a good point, Tommy. A real arm wrestle to start the game. And we just hung in there. And, I mean, you must have done it pretty easy in the second half as a viewer. Yeah, for sure.

[00:10:03] It was sort of hard. Like, we played him here earlier in the year and we were in a similar situation. And things got sort of, you know, pretty tight there at the end. It was, I think, maybe four or six points in it in the end. And as far as, like, they've got a lot of strike, that team. Obviously, Kola and Hamole. And obviously, even without Turbo, Hopper Whitey does a good job for them at the back there. So, you know, we've probably learned our lesson years gone by of getting ourselves in that position

[00:10:33] and letting it, you know, slip. And I think we've grown up a lot from that. And it's shown that, you know, we've had a good win and a good couple of performances from a similar spot at halftime this year where we've been able to kick on with it and move on with it. So, it's a nice feeling. Is the feeling in the camp similar to the last few years? Or is there a new resolve? Because Fitzy in the press conference after the game was asked, you know, is this your time, the real deal, the whole thing we've heard every year?

[00:11:00] And he kind of snapped back a little bit and said, we're not doing anything different. This is who we are. As the media and outside fans, you come and go and view us how you view us. But for you in the camp, does it feel different? Like, this week, does it feel different to other times? No, I agree. I don't think so. Like, we've had the same game plan, the same sort of style for the last, you know, four or five years that he's been here.

[00:11:27] And obviously, we've got a bit to play for now. Obviously, a few important guys leaving. And, you know, that's still so far away. We've just really been knuckling down on getting our weeks right and preparing well. And, you know, like everyone says, if you give yourself, you know, the best preparation, it puts you in the best position to perform well on the weekend. So, we're just controlling what we can within our four walls. And what will be said in the media or why outside people will be said, we can't control that.

[00:11:55] All we can control is how we prepare and how we play. So, that's what we're looking after. Confident we'll see you this week? Yeah, yeah, definitely. So, a little week off, freshen up. And, yeah, I got through everything today. So, I'm confident that I'll be good. Thanks for your time, Tommy. Thanks, mate. Thank you. Appreciate it. Thank you. Rayleigh, Trindle. They may challenge this one. Ronaldo's running fast. Here he comes. And it's in front of the group. It bounced up. They've got to try. Rayleigh, he's been on for 20 seconds.

[00:12:26] And he scores his first NRL try. You don't want to get a vanilla Blake haircut, mate? Hey, nah. Nah. That's why I'm not allowed in front of the cameras, because I've got too much hair. Jesse Colohan giving us hair tips. What about AFB's hair? Yeah. And why would anyone be crazy enough to say anything negative about it? Yeah, exactly. You've just got to look at him and look how intimidating he is. And we'll shut you up real quick. So, I'm not going to make any comments on that. And I'll leave that to you. How's the knee? It's good. It's good.

[00:12:55] I had a nice little two-week holiday. Hi, Adius. And good to be back and have a great win on the weekend. You scared us there, because we didn't know what was going on. We were told it was one week. Then it was two. But you're all good? Yep, I'm all good. It was just, again, precautionary. Just had a bit of patellar tendonitis issues. And it's been lingering for the whole year. And I feel like I've done well to get up to the point as to where I did against the Broncos. And then after that, I just, I guess, couldn't continue really much anymore and needed to have a bit of a spell.

[00:13:23] But coming back, yeah, it's the best it's felt all year. So, I'm really looking forward to the back end of the year. Awesome. The versatility of this team, next man up. Some weeks you're starting, some weeks you're 17, some weeks you aren't playing. We're still winning. It's a good spot to be in. Yeah, 100%. Exciting footy to watch A and definitely exciting footy to be a part of. So, I guess, for me, it's just being grateful to be a part of such a strong and powerful team.

[00:13:52] And whatever I can do to, I guess, benefit the team, you know, I'm just trying to do my role. So, where were you on the field when we scored that crazy try with the kick and the offloads? Were you near that? Were you on the field? Did you touch it? Yeah, I was lucky enough to, one of 10 people to touch the ball. And I passed the ball to Augie before he did that freakish offload. So, it was... So, that's got to feel pretty good. Yeah, it did. I think I was celebrating pretty hard.

[00:14:20] A big win, but did the hard yards in the first 15 minutes. They really brought it. And it was a bit of an arm wrestle. And obviously, everything opened up after that. That's a good way to play going into finals later in the year. Yeah, for sure. We always knew they were going to come out swinging. You know, it was old boys' day. And they had a couple of external motivators as well coming in. So, we knew it was going to be a good hard battle from the start. And, you know, we tried to blunt them up a bit at the start and then get our bloody powerful magic men to come on the field and finish the job off.

[00:14:49] So, again, if that's going to be the role moving forward, I'll take it. But, yeah, it's definitely exciting to be a part of. Again, next man up. Fanua Blake and Talakai coming off the bench. That's got to scare a lot of people. Yeah, it scares me. And I'm on their team. So, again, whether it's a permanent thing or not, I'm not too sure. That's more so the coaches. But I think it's working for now. It's bloody exciting. Thanks for your time, Jesse. Thank you. Thank you, bro. I appreciate it. King Tong here. Oh, there's a little kick for himself. He got a boot to him.

[00:15:19] Sione Katoa hanging on hat. Goodness me. He hang on to Eddie Katoa. Sione Katoa, good morning, good afternoon. What is the thing you say? Good after morning. Good after morning. How's the wind with fishing? Does wind affect fishing when you go fishing? Yes. The wind is no good for fishing.

[00:15:50] Yeah, but I haven't been fishing anyways because the cold's been getting me. You stop in winter? No, I usually don't. But I think, yeah, I haven't been fishing the last couple of weeks. And I've been enjoying footy a bit more. So maybe that's the part, yeah. I reckon you can do both. But I'm glad you're playing well. And you saved an amazing try the other week here against Newcastle. Nico Hines asked the question.

[00:16:19] I'm going to ask the question. Where did you come from? Yeah. At the time, I just, after I was shocked, I was like, how did I get there? I don't remember. And then watching the video again, yeah, I just came from the other side. I didn't stop running and, yeah, ended up there. Amazing. Game changing. No, it is. I was pretty shocked. And it's possible I could do stuff like that for the team especially. And, yeah. How are you feeling? We're going around 22, I think. How's the body?

[00:16:49] How's the mind? I mean, you had a few weeks off with injury, a few other things. You're back. You're killing it. How are you feeling? I'm feeling good. Good, actually, you know. Footy is very physical. And there was a physical game last week. But, yeah, long turnaround, long week to get the body right. South Sydney coming to town. They've got it all to play for. They're fighting for a top eight spot. But we're on a roll here and we want to finish as high as we can. How's the team looking going into this week?

[00:17:19] Looking good. We're not too worried about what they're fighting for. We are focused on our role, our job as a team. Keep doing what we've been doing the last couple of weeks. Give us some words on Talakai. Game 150. Is that a golf club he's got? What's that? Tell us about Sifat Talakai because I'm a huge fan of his and he's a quiet achiever. You're both heading off into the sunset at the end of the year.

[00:17:49] But tell us about Sifat. Yeah, I've known Sifat since we were little. How little? Maybe 11, 10 years old. We sort of went to the same church but just in a different area. And just played him through Harold Matthews, SG ball. Was he always scary? Yeah, he was.

[00:18:13] When he was playing Harold Matthews, he was already 30 years old playing under 15. He was just a very good player. Yeah, being Tongan, we've become very close on and off the field. It's going to be weird, man. Perth Bears versus North Queensland Cowboys. Yeah, nah.

[00:18:38] As long as I don't get in front of him and as long as I don't run at him, I'll be fine. Hey, thanks for your time and thanks for playing so good and good luck for the rest of the year. Thank you. Thanks, Danny. Oh, awkward handshake. Hines quickly. Talikai. The skill there from Hines. The catch and pass. That's incredible from Sifat Talikai. Sifat Talikai.

[00:19:08] Game 150 coming up in the NRL. You started with Souths. You're playing against Souths. You played in Perth. You're going to Perth. It's all kind of adding up in some strange way. But congratulations. What a great milestone. What does it mean to you? It means a lot. I've downplayed a lot of my milestone. This one's actually a bit special. This is the last one. The club that's given me everything. And there's nothing more that I'd want to do than just go out and put on a performance

[00:19:34] that won as the club, the community and just the boys in general. The team's going really well, obviously. The versatility. Next man up is crazy. It includes yourself. What's it like for you playing with such a happy, great squad that genuinely 25 guys can start and still probably get the win? Yeah. It's a hard one. I'd hope to be fit to you at the moment. Everyone's fit and healthy. So it's a hard job to pick a crew. I might have said anyone either.

[00:20:04] No, it's... Yeah. The crew's been doing well, man. That's something we've been chipping out for the past couple of years. And yeah, to finally see it come good and everyone's striving towards the same goal. Everyone putting their input in. Everyone working hard together. It's great, but I still think that we've still got a long way to go. We're still keeping our heads out and working hard.

[00:20:34] There's still more for us to show the rest of the competition. It's great that we're tracking the right way. But yeah, still six games to go to the finals. There's still plenty more that we haven't shown the rest of the competition yet. So I'd say, yeah, we're tracking well. Yeah, well going towards the finals. Because this is an audio podcast, when you said that, you had a little twinkle in your eye. And I got a little chill. So I don't know what's coming. But I'm excited. South Sydney this week, they're always tough.

[00:21:05] What are you expecting from them? Yeah, just a good hard game. Their physical side, their side that doesn't go away. And, you know, they work very hard in their systems. And we're expecting a good hard battle. They're doing a lot better than where they're sitting in the ladder. So they got up on us earlier in the year. And yeah, I remember playing that game. It was just a tough day for us to get out of right back field and get our sets on.

[00:21:34] So definitely expecting a good hard game. But yeah, we're up for the challenge. So looking forward to it. Thanks for your time. Congrats again on the 150. Thank you. Thanks, everyone. SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. He's an expert in the Carring Bar region and has his eye all across the Shire. Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast.

[00:22:00] If you're looking to buy or sell in the region, the person you need to be talking to is Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate. SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate.

[00:22:28] He's an expert in the Carring Bar region and has his eye all across the Shire. Lifelong Sharks fan and supporter of this podcast. If you're looking to buy or sell in the region, the person you need to be talking to is Jason Hawes from Crips & Crips Real Estate. Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips & Crips Real Estate.