Rd 13, 2026 Craig Fitzgibbon Presser, plus some Origin 1 Thoughts and more

[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 And to all you people 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 podcast dedicated to the greatest sporting club in the history of the world, the mighty Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. This is a short press conference slash origin update, brought to you by Dyson Logistics, the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Port Hacking and Jason Hawes at Crips & Crips Real Estate. I happened to have a conversation with Liam from the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Port Hacking.

[00:01:27] He was out of his turf again a little bit on the north side of town, sinking a few Mr. Paisley's liquids, shall we say, and having a good time. I'm great to catch up with Liam, big supporter of the Sharks and this podcast. And we did talk about state of origin and how good the whole contest was and how good our boys went.

[00:01:48] I wanted to jump on and say congratulations to Blake Braley and also Britt Nicker and Adan Fenua Blake, all three representing the club really well. From what we're hearing, no injuries at all. And as far as fitness goes and wear and tear, etc., it's looking pretty good. They'll confirm the team later on today after I record this at least 24 hours before the game. And then we'll know more hour and a half before kickoff as to what the final lineup will be for the Sharks.

[00:02:18] But at this stage, it's looking like all three will play, which is excellent. Now, for Manly, who were playing on Friday night at Ocean Protect Stadium, they still have Olokowatu and Kula, their origin reps, listed as reserves. Now, if you watch the game close enough or if you even saw some highlights, you'll know that Kula got concussed at the very least. It's looking like he'll be stood down.

[00:02:46] So, very unlikely he will play. It's just not official official yet. But at least that's one negative for Manly, which is a positive for the Sharks. But at this stage, the Sharks team is listed as PER, which has all three origin stars starting. Now, I've heard all the things about Blake Braley came on and was running downhill and against 12 men. Don't really care for it. He came on the field. He was immense. He looked confident. He looked like he was meant to be there.

[00:03:16] He is meant to be there. His great ability to be strong in both attack and defense really shone through. The way he was directing the team around in the opposition 20 last night with the Queensland team on the ropes was outstanding. And the try assist was obviously brilliant as well. Super happy for him and his family and his fans and all of us on the island. We're making room. We're going to extend the island. We're going to come on board if you're not there already.

[00:03:44] Blake Braley, one of the great shark representation. The nation debuts for rep footy. I think he'll go down as one of the all-time greats at Cronulla as far as club footballers go. But he's got a long way to go, which is awesome. Adam Fenua Blake, I think most of the New South Wales team sort of struggled a bit in the opening stanza for him. A second stint was a lot stronger. And he looked pretty invested, which is I think a really good sign for the Sharks this weekend and moving forward.

[00:04:12] He looks very invested in the Blues experience. So, well done. He earned that great career so far. More to come. Britton Nicker are a bit quieter on the field, but he got some good game time and he'll be better for the experience. That's for sure. Queens don't usually pick and stick, so you'd think he would go around again. But we'll see. Further negative things that I saw about Blake Bradley running downhill, there's a lot of positivity as well from Sharks fans and also from other fans in the NRL.

[00:04:41] And yeah, just stoked for him. He's really earned it and he is a great Cronulla Shark. Press conference early this morning on Thursday. Craig Fitzgibbon discusses how that went as far as origin players for the Sharks. He talks about Cam McKinnis' 100th game as a Shark. He discusses Steve Rogers' Cup. And that reminds me to remind you that we have a new episode out with Don Rogers, friend of the show.

[00:05:11] Many of you will know him. If you don't know him personally, you'll know him from his family. He is Steve Rogers' son. He's Matt Rogers' brother. And right now he's got his own country music career happening and doing pretty well so far. A long way to go for him as well because he's shooting pretty high. And we're backing him in. And Don's on the show. He talks about his life as a shark.

[00:05:40] He played lower grades with some of the greats. And a lot of stories about his dad and his brother and his family. And there's a bit of music in there as well, of course. So we urge you to go watch that on YouTube or listen on the apps. Or wherever you listen to Shark Cast Pod, of course. Just consume it however you want to consume it. Spread it around. Share it around. And Donnie will be performing two songs at Ocean Protect Stadium at 7.40pm on the dot. But we have urged you to get there around 7.30 for lots of different reasons.

[00:06:10] But yeah, get there for 7.30 for a 7.40 performance from Don Rogers before the game. If the weather's crazy, they'll do something and let everyone know about that. But at this stage, he'll be performing out on the hallowed turf. And there's lots of good stories about that hallowed turf literally in the podcast episode with Donnie. So go have a listen to that. Really appreciate it if you can give it a go. So, should be a great occasion down at Ocean Protect Stadium. Round 13 against Manly. Playing for the Steve Rogers Memorial Trophy.

[00:06:39] It's also, very importantly, mental fitness round. The Cronulla teaming up with the great Tommy Herschel and his Find Your Feet company. And they do unbelievable work, particularly with young people in schools. But also across the board. Tommy is a big mover in the mental health side of things. Started from scratch. If you don't follow Find Your Feet on Insta or social media, you really should.

[00:07:09] Because he's just posting amazing, emotional, inspiring stories. And he's going to be down at the ground. I think they'll have a stall where you can talk and pamphlets and those kind of things you take away. But very good initiative from Nico Hines and the Sharks. Mental fitness round. And in conjunction with Find Your Feet and Tommy Herschel. We mentioned Donnie will be singing his song, which will be awesome. Gates open at 5.30. There's a flag game on at 5.35. Sharks v Manly.

[00:07:39] Your NRL kickoff will be 8 o'clock. So that's going to be an exciting match. We know that Nephi Peru is going to make his debut. They did the jersey presentation with his family. And quite emotional scenes, which you can see on the Sharks' social media. And Cam McKinnis' 100th game. There's a lot to play for aside from the two points. And let's get that done. It's going to be a tough one. But let's get it done. We will see you down at the ground. Otherwise, we will talk to you most likely after the game.

[00:08:08] Any kind of issues there, we'll let you know via the social media. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, X. We're on the TikTok, but that's kind of more a once-twice-a-week kind of thing. But I would say especially Instagram and Facebook is the two most used platforms. And if you give us a subscribe, like, follow for free on there, of course, you'll be able to keep up to date with everything.

[00:08:34] And I can keep you up to date with, for example, what time will we go online after the game? We are coming up to a very big milestone as far as podcast episodes go. We'll keep you informed on that and see how we go. But it could be after the game, depending on what we do this week. Will we reach a milestone? Otherwise, it will be very, very soon. Either way, I appreciate your support. I'm going to send it off now to coach Craig Fitzgibbon. Up, up. We'll see you down at the game. Hines links up with Burns. Burns throws it.

[00:09:04] It's up. He gets right in! Firstly, Craig, you would have watched Origin. Very exciting finish. And the Sharks boys certainly held their gloves up last night. Yeah, it was, um, Origin never fails to disappoint. And, um, yeah, as a New South Welshman, obviously it was a pleasing result. And, um, I think, you know, as far as the series goes, it's obviously, um, now it sets up. So, Queensland would have been proud of their effort in the circumstances. So, it makes for a mouthwatering game too.

[00:09:32] And, yeah, it was, um, incredibly, uh, proud moment to watch, um, three Sharks make their debut in the Origin Arena. And, um, yeah, it's certainly, um, certainly not lost on those players how, um, how important it is for themselves and the career. And they represent the Sharks well. So, um, yeah, everyone at the club was incredibly proud of them last night. How did the three boys back up? You got any, uh, idea on what their status is for tomorrow night? Uh, no, they'll come in, um, in the next sort of hour or so and we'll assess them and see how they go. I think they pulled up okay.

[00:10:02] So, um, yeah, all things being well, we hope they play, but, um, we won't be taking any risks either. We, um, pretty important to our team and we need to make sure that they're fit and fine if we put them out there. Uh, as far as the team goes, tomorrow night we've got a debutant, uh, Nephi Puru. It's an exciting moment for him and his family. Yeah, definitely. Um, obviously Nephi's been with us for four years now, I think. So, um, he's been, you know, applying his trade and, and working really hard on his game and, um, and developing. He's been ready for some time.

[00:10:31] We feel like, um, I'm not sure, uh, last year, I think we only had one game where, uh, we missed a half. I think that was tricky and that was around 27 last year. And at the time Nephi just, um, tore his pec muscle. So, he's, um, he's missed a number of opportunities over the years for injury and, but he has been ready for some time and we're, we're really excited for him. And, and obviously, you know, the fact that his twin brother plays here and, and Pep's played, it's, um, it's going to be a proud moment for, um, for the family today when we do the jersey presentation.

[00:11:01] Uh, one game for Nephi. It's going to be a hundred Sharks games for Cam McGuinness. Cause that's a, a nice milestone for him to tick off. Yeah, it is. Um, yeah, obviously we've got heavy hearts in relation to Cam at the moment. Um, but obviously, and, and sort of started the back end of last year when he missed the semifinals run and, uh, just a, such an important leader, but what a, what a person, what a man. And I think there's, um, uh, there's only, there's, there's not heaps of them, but a lot

[00:11:28] of players in, in the NRL have, uh, an impact not only on your own club, but they have an impact on the game. And I would, I would consider Cam McInnes one of those guys. There's, there'd be no one in our game and at our club or any other club that doesn't respect the way he goes about him, uh, his game. Uh, definitely everyone's heard about his preparation and, um, and what sort of person he is. So, uh, players like that hold, um, they're held in a really high regard across the game and that's, that's not easy to do.

[00:11:55] And, um, there's not too many players that are fitted, um, you know, in a hundred games that Cam's done for the Sharks. Um, there's, um, not too many have, um, put in, put in the effort that he has. Uh, someone else that has, or did have a great impact on the game was Steve Rogers. Um, we play manly for the Steve Rogers Memorial Trophy tomorrow night. So that's a, that's an important occasion for us as well. Yeah, it is. Yeah. We've had, um, obviously, um, with, uh, with Steve Rogers and his legacy

[00:12:22] of the club and in the history of, um, not only playing, but as an administrator. Um, and it's really important to the family, uh, that, that current, that trophy or that game is, um, represented in a, in a good fashion. Um, we'll be certainly, um, you know, we've honored, honored and acknowledged the fact of, um, um, Steve's contribution to the Sharks in its history. And, uh, certainly, um, the family will be coming down and they'll be super excited to watch the game. So I'm really looking forward to seeing the family and yeah, we'd like to make sure we,

[00:12:52] uh, we represent them well. And just a quick shout out, a mental fitness round. It's an important initiative, uh, very close to Nico's heart, find your feet. So the boys have got around that this week as well. Yeah. Yeah. Um, a lot of good work going around in that space and, um, it's been, uh, developing over the last number of years and it seems to be getting stronger. So I think it's a fantastic initiative and Tommy from find your feet does a terrific job. Um, you know, not only for the Sharks, he does, uh, I think he works at the NRL now as well. So, um, it's good to see the NRL taking it seriously.

[00:13:21] And, um, I think Tommy runs a fantastic program and it's important that we keep growing that. SharkCast is supported by the best and most honest real estate agent in the Sutherland Shire, Jason Hawes from Crips and Crips Real Estate. He's an expert in the Caring 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 and Crips Real Estate.

[00:13:50] Call him on 0410 417 450. That's 0410 417 450. Jason Hawes, Crips and Crips Real Estate.

[00:14:02] And to all you people back in the Shire, turn your porch lights off because we're coming out with a trophy. And there's a match in the World X and Crips. The Tiff in the World X. The Tiff in the World X, B. The Tiff in the World X. The Tiff. The Tiff in the World X.