Rd 26, 2026 Coach Presser and Your Mail

[00:00:02] 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

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[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. My name's Sam Shinazzi, OG2015, and we are just a bit over 24 hours away from the Eels clash at Parramatta. It's going to be a big one. Must win, of course. All the games now are must-win, you would think. And we're going there to win, baby. Can't wait for it.

[00:01:31] On this short sharp episode, you'll hear from our coach, Craig Fitzgibbon, about what he said in his pregame press conference. I've also got a bit of mail for you. When I say mail, I'm not talking news or gossip or scandal or scuttlebutt. I mean a couple of bits of correspondence from you beautiful people. We call the SharkCast universe. So let me get to that. As always, this show is brought to you by Dyson Logistics, the Royal Motor Yacht Club in Port Hacking,

[00:01:58] Jason Hawes of Crips & Crips Real Estate, and we get our coffee and other things from Mr. Paisley's in North Caring Bar. I appreciate all of those people in our lives. While I am spruiking, two things. If you would like to have your business spruiked on our show regularly and on our socials and everywhere else, please drop me a line. It's a year-long invitation. You can jump on at any point, and we can do some business together.

[00:02:25] The second bit of spruiking is closer to your hearts, and that is the 2016 Sharks Premiership range of merchandise. Just available as of Friday. I'm hoping when you hear this, there will still be some left for you to peruse and maybe purchase if you can afford it and if you want to buy it. So no pressure from me, but just letting you know that it's pretty cool. There is a beautiful jacket which you can see me modeling, so to speak, on our social pages from yesterday.

[00:02:53] And there is obviously the sharks.com.au website. Go to the store section, and you can see their college jacket. You can see t-shirt, hoodie, and gridiron-style jersey. The thing I love about it is there's no 10-year anniversary mention. It's just 2016 merch, and that keeps it relevant, so to speak. That keeps it in its moment, on its day, on its night, October 2, 2016. Changed all our lives forever.

[00:03:23] And if you'd like some new merch from there, it's a little bit different, then you know what to do. End of spruiking. We're here to talk all things Trinidad Sharks, including that huge game against the Eels on Sunday afternoon at Colm Bank Stadium. Been hearing a lot about their young fella on debut from the bench, Ryder Talagi. I believe that's the fella on debut. A very powerful young running forward.

[00:03:52] So, our forward pack and our bench certainly will have their hands busy with him and other players. Like our former pal, still pal Jack Williams, who's having a great career-best season, you'd think. Junior Palo still rips it up. And I want us to be really careful about Talon the silver at dummy half. He's always going to go himself from a few meters out. So, a lot to be wary of. Mitch Moses will be in everyone's grill, including the refs, including the fans, including the players. He'll be in Nico's grill.

[00:04:19] And we need to cope with that the best we can. I'm sure that everyone's prepared for that kind of onslaught from Mitch Moses. On his day, an incredible player. Not on his day, an incredible pest. So, hopefully it's the latter. And he doesn't have a great game because he can change games. Single handedly, he's done against us a few times. But overall, it's going to be a very competitive game. I think it'll be closer than what a lot of experts might say. I've watched this team pretty closely this year, Parramatta, through my work.

[00:04:48] And they've been in a lot more games than they haven't. And they probably should have won a lot more games than they have. So, last home game at the stadium for them this year. I think it's members day. There should be a pretty big crowd there of just people reveling in the last game of the year. So, we have to get out there and represent. And we need to be loud and proud and get our fellows across the line. What is a must-win game? I didn't want the week to go by without some mail being read out.

[00:05:14] You know, I want to respect the people that write into us as timely as I can. And speaking of that, I probably owe you an episode or two this week from our normal way of doing things. But unfortunately, it looks like time might get the best of us. But we're around. We're doing things. So, make sure you follow us on all socials. Make sure you subscribe to your favorite podcast app and to YouTube. And you'll never miss a moment of SharkCast. But yeah, I think we're down on a few episodes this week. But that's okay. There's always next week.

[00:05:44] And next week's going to be a bumper. I promise you. Now, Steven wrote to us after the game last week against the Titans. He said, we got the win. But that first half was diabolical. How the coach didn't bring on Talakai in the first half makes the mind boggle. As soon as he brought him on, the game turned around. With AFB coming into the second half of the bench, it changed the game. Holding the ball also helped. The coach is really missing a trick not bringing AFB off the bench and not playing Talakai for at least 50 minutes.

[00:06:14] The coaching staff know more than me, but it just seems so obvious and would add so much to this side. So, just on that before we get to your next point, Steven, and thanks so much for making those points. I believe Talakai came on late in the first half, but I take your point you wanted him on earlier. He and his cousin definitely changed the game. No doubt about it. Why didn't he come on before that? I couldn't tell you. They tend to bring on the middles first after about 20 or so. Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't have an answer for you.

[00:06:42] But as you have stated, and I'm glad you did, the coaching staff know more than me. But I'm with you. Talakai should be a big game minute player. I would have him playing a full game, let alone 50 to 60 minutes. So, I'm on your side for sure. You also said, I wanted to touch on the comment, this side is waiting for September, that I've heard lately. I can't believe a side in their position could possibly be thinking that way at any stage of the season. And if they are, that will lead to a lot of issues.

[00:07:12] So, I haven't heard anyone within the club say that, whether it be player or staff. So, I'm assuming you're maybe referring to someone in the media. It could be a former player. It could be a host of a show. And that's opinion based. So, let's not assume that the club is thinking that way. I don't think they're thinking that way. I just think that we got into that great run of, what was it, 9 from 11. But it was still 7 or 8 weeks out from the finals.

[00:07:39] So, it was going to be hard to maintain that winning streak. They've dropped a couple of games they shouldn't have, to be fair. They won last week, came back against the halftime deficit and won. So, hopefully it's onward and upward from here, Stephen. But I don't think I've heard anyone at all referred to that statement you've made from within the club, which pleases me. Because I'm with you. I wouldn't want the club to necessarily be thinking that way.

[00:08:05] Is it a natural reaction for an elite player to maybe have their eye on the future? Sure. Absolutely. But they've learned some harsh lessons over the past few weeks. I know everyone hates that term, learning lessons. But they have. Let's see what happens against the Eels. I expect them to go out there and take care of business and then finish up at Ocean Protect Stadium with a very tough game against the Storm. So, see what happens. Completely appreciate your support, Stephen, and your correspondence. Awesome, man. Adam has been in touch.

[00:08:34] Adam has written a limerick for Nico Hines, which I love and appreciate. There once was a player named Nico who sidestepped and swerved like a sicko. Best boot in the land with a deft sleight of hand, exposing more edges than Snicko. That is awesome, Adam. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Let's get that one trending. Roger has been in touch. Roger is from up the Gold Coast way.

[00:09:03] And even though he was a bit unwell last week, he said, I was determined to make it to the stadium and I'm very glad I did. Despite being perfect weather, it was quite cold where we sat. So I sat in my Sharks hoodie or game. The atmosphere was fantastic. It seemed like a Sharks home game. I've attached some photos, which I will check out. Thank you very much. My daughter and her partner purchased fantastic tickets for us. Four rows back from the Sharks bench. It gave us a brilliant view of the players and the intensity of the sideline.

[00:09:30] And we were perfectly positioned to watch Sione Katoa score that try. Seeing him launch himself into the corner from so close was the highlight of the afternoon. The Sharks made the game harder than they needed it to be. It started reasonably well. The attack then became clunky. So a bit of a review here from Roger. Thankfully, a very different Sharks team merged after half time, simplified their attack. It wasn't a perfect performance, but considering they had lost their previous two matches, it was an important win.

[00:09:59] The comeback demonstrated character, but also highlighted the first half some things that need to be addressed before the finals. I'm expecting a similar result to the Titans game this week against Parramatta. I think we will win by approximately eight to twelve points. And also a prediction of Sharks winning by eight points, 28 to 20. But hopefully not as much stress as the Gold Coast game. Up up, warm regards from Roger. Thanks, Roger. And you've sent in some beautiful photos from where you were sitting. I'm glad you weren't in the sun.

[00:10:28] Or at least I would be glad I wasn't sitting in the sun. And that's a terrific stadium. I ought to get up there one time and hang out. Almost made it this year, so maybe next year we'll see. But thank you so much for the photos. Glad you had a great time. And let's enjoy the game on Sunday against the Eels. That's from Roger. Now, our friend Jay's been in touch. Legendary Jay, he said, Could you discuss how we play the Eels and Storm for the first time in the last two rounds of the season? It does my head in.

[00:10:56] Surely the NRL could get the draw to change in the future. For example, when you get to the last four or five rounds of the year, you've played everyone at least once already in the comp. Interesting take, Jay. And I've never really thought about it too closely. I understand the frustration. And I understand the merit in what you're saying. I don't know what the NRL would reply to you though. I don't think they'd really care that much from an NRL competition point of view. And I guess there is something kind of mysterious about playing a team for the first time right at the end of the year.

[00:11:26] The problem for Cronulla is they're playing a team that's got absolutely nothing to lose in all sorts of aspects. And we haven't played them this year. So I understand where you're coming from. Yeah, I don't think it's a huge problem for me. But I completely see where you're coming from. And it'd be interesting to see like studying NFL, some other sporting schedules and seeing if that is a thing worldwide or not. But yeah, thank you for raising it. Really appreciate it. Thanks for all the banter this week. Hope you like the new merch drop.

[00:11:56] I think that is the mail that we haven't covered and now we have. So hopefully across all the shows this week, we've covered what you wanted us to cover. If we haven't, we'll get to it. But coming up, I would like to introduce the Craig Fitzgibbon press conference from this morning. And let's hear what the coach has got to say for himself and for the team. And we will no doubt talk to you really soon. Up, up, Cronulla. Let's go.

[00:12:22] How are you feeling about tomorrow against the Eels? We're looking forward to the challenge. I think the Eels have obviously got shown some green shoots this year, you know, with a lot of improved players, young side mixed with senior players that know what they're doing and obviously pretty well organised. So it will be a handful for us. But we're looking forward to the challenge, particularly at this stage of the year. We need one. Yeah.

[00:12:50] This stage of the year, how important is it to get a win tomorrow and also secure us a spot in the top four potentially? Yeah, we try to. Yeah, that's the hardest part of this year to be honest. Like it's an obvious question and something that we can't escape at the moment. Everyone's worried about the end of the year. So for us, we can't control other teams' performances, ladder, position, where they're at, who's playing well, who's doing whatever.

[00:13:17] We can only simply focus on how well we play. And obviously off the back of a couple of disappointing weeks, I thought we were pretty strong last week. So we've got to capitalise on that and make sure we're moving and heading in the right direction towards the end of the year. But our eyes on the end of the year could cost us tomorrow afternoon as well. Yeah, definitely. What's been the discussion after last week? I imagine there's a lot of confidence now and perhaps a bit of relief to be able to get a good result. Yeah, interesting word.

[00:13:45] Like we probably, a relief mentality can be dangerous where you think, okay, we're sweet and not aim up the week after. It's about consistency for us and committing. You know, consistency can't just sort of make up. It's got to be a recommitment of what happened the week before. So I thought, obviously, first half we're probably disappointed in how we're putting things out there. But sort of a couple of things clicked into gear the second half. But now we've got to go and recommit to that.

[00:14:15] It won't be easy. You know, there's every, anyone can beat anyone in the NRL. And if you don't recommit to that consistency, it can be hard. And, but we're excited. We're super excited as well. It's like Sunday Arvo playing out at Combank against Parramatta, big club. Should be plenty of people out there. So we're looking forward to that atmosphere as well. Yeah, I don't know. How do you make sure you have a strong start tomorrow and not, like you said, just then sort of, you know, come a bit slow out of the blocks? Yeah, well, the start's not a gift.

[00:14:42] Like I think what didn't help, you know, like a few discipline areas and sort of probably areas at certain times can cost you the start, you know, in sort of games past. We started pretty strongly and, yeah, it's about getting into the contest pretty early. But even if you don't get what you want out of the start, you sort of see signs of life that you're ready to aim up for the day. And even though we weren't starting that well last week, I saw a few signs there that would

[00:15:10] suggest we were sort of, we were ready to knuckle down. But other teams can make that hard for you as well. So it's always a contest there, particularly at the start, and you'd like to go after that. But whether you get it or not can be determined of a number of factors. A couple of milestones for the game tomorrow. I'll ask you about Ronnie first. What's been in your eyes his contributions to the team this season? And how great has it been to see him, you know, achieving some of the great results that he's had this year? Oh, he's just a unique player.

[00:15:40] Like he's obviously passionate and emotional. Like you can see it in the way he plays. And what people don't see in Ronnie is like that guy's as far as a club representative and what he does in the community. I haven't seen too many guys give their time to other people on behalf of the Sharks. And yeah, he's obviously, it can be, that passion can come across as an antagonist. He just wants to win and sometimes that spills over.

[00:16:07] But he's just a player that you love to have in your side. His teammates adore him and other teams don't like him. So that's what you want out of a player that's that emotional and passionate. And mate, super, that guy's got a big heart. And yeah, we are, we're lucky to have him, that's for sure. How's Tricky going? I know we sort of got an update during the week, but is that relatively the same? Are you expecting his return before finals? What's sort of the timeline for him? I'm not sure.

[00:16:37] I'll be in the next couple of weeks. He's really good. Like he's actually surprisingly good. So, but we don't, yeah, there's a difference between when we put him back out, there needs to be mitigating risk. And then there'll be a risk, of course. But obviously, I'll trust our medical guys on that, on whether it's worth pushing that risk. But he's had a good result out of what's happened, that's for sure. And he wanted to play this week.

[00:17:05] But we've got to make sure we get it right. So it's mitigating that risk factor. But he's definitely in a good spot. He's training hard. And yeah, he definitely wants to come back. So I won't be too far away. What did you make of your half partnership last week? Obviously a different combo. How do you think they performed together? Pretty good. I thought, yeah, Nephi hadn't played with Nikko before. Because in Nephi's other three games, Nikko was out. He played with Tricky. So it sort of fitted well. You know, Nikko's on the right and Nephi on the left.

[00:17:34] So defensively, they were pretty sound there. And then what I liked, once the game got going, they sort of got to each other's side and worked together. So obviously it's, they've done a lot of reps together. But you know, getting it out under the training is one thing. But you've got to do it under the pressure. And I thought they did a pretty good job of that, to be honest. I think Nikko has sort of stepped up a little bit more, obviously, because he's more experienced in that starting partnership. Are you asking a bit more of him?

[00:18:03] I wouldn't say more based on, you know, he stepped up when Tricky got out. It was only five minutes into the game. I thought he did a pretty good job that day. We went close. We just couldn't quite execute. We created enough opportunities. But no, I want everyone to step up. You know, I want Nikko to be coordinating things, of course. He's the lead playmaker there. And he's in charge with directing us around the field every week anyway. So yeah, I want him to step up more, definitely. But I want everyone else to step up as well, particularly this time of year.

[00:18:33] Ronaldo said earlier in the week that he doesn't look at social media at this time of year. He doesn't read the papers. He doesn't want to know about anything else going on. I hope not. Yeah, which is good probably to hear as a coach. Are you similar in that sense? How do you deal with all the, you know, you've got to make the top four, blah, blah, blah, all that noise around you at the moment? I don't think social media is a safe place. So no, I won't be entering any of those forums and I'm looking at any of that. So no, no, largely head down, bum up. Yeah, the only people who can help us are the people at Sharks.

[00:19:03] So I'm pretty, yeah, pretty closed in at this stage of year and time to knuckle down and focus on the things that made it a million. Yeah, sure. Spend plenty of time with people outside the Sharks, by the name of my family and friends, but no, no, it's knuckle down time. It's not, yeah, no one outside here can help us. So it's, yeah, no one, no one wants to or no one's going to. So, yeah. But in respect to the way it works, it's important to our game and our fans are up and about and I'm looking forward to the end of the year, but we've got a couple of challenges ahead before we get there.

[00:19:33] So it's good to have the fans on side and excited. You've been doing this for quite some time. Does this time over year feel the same for you as it has, you know, in your early coaching career stages or have you changed the way you approach this sort of time of the year now? Oh, yeah, yeah. You have to do a lot of planning with the staff and the coaches about what's ahead. But to be honest, looking too far ahead can get you off what's in front of you.

[00:20:00] So you sort of have to do, you do have to spend some time as a coach on what's coming and we've done that and put that aside now because now it's about, you know, today's only about today for us. We've got to get today right. And yeah, I feel better with the staff and as coaches and with the players that we'll focus on day to day. We tend to feel better and clearer about what we've got to do. So I've got to do the planning work, put it aside and then get back to what day to day business looks like. So it's no different there.

[00:20:29] No changes to what you named on Tuesday? Everyone's looking to say? No, not at this stage. Yeah, we'll get through today. But no, not at this stage. I'm not anticipating possibly a couple of sick guys, but they're okay now. So that was earlier in the week, but I'm pretty sure we'll be okay. Okay, really? Yeah. Sorry, just before we go, it's the Johnny Manor Cup as well. So yeah, we obviously like to pay our respects to the Manor family for this game as well.

[00:20:59] And we are, yeah, it's not lost on us. You know, obviously his brother's a Parramatta legend and Johnny played for the Sharks, number Sharks 435. So it's an important day for us too. Yeah, Jess is, I don't think it's hard for everyone to notice what we noticed in Jesse now that he's up. I mean, he's only 50 games, but Jesse come back from, yeah, broken foot, broken foot and then an ACL.

[00:21:28] So the start to Jesse's career has been littered with challenge and turbulence. But I think he showed at the back end of last year when Cameron hurt his knee, what sort of player he's going to be. And we're happy, or not happy, we're really happy that we've re-signed him for a long period of time because we think he's the future in that position. And yeah, he's, in his 50 games, he's starting to show what he's about.

[00:21:54] And that's not many games to play in the middle of the field and figure yourself out, but he's figured it out pretty quick. So he's definitely a prospect for us. 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 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,

[00:22:19] 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!

[00:22:52] Back in the Shire. Turn your porch lights off because we're coming home with a trophy.