Sharkies all the Way
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Hard taskmaster Raper looks for improvement
10 August 2004
Sometimes it's hard to please Cronulla Sharks coach Stuart Raper.
Utility Michael Sullivan played a match-turning hand from the bench in the Sharks' shock 26-12 NRL win over the Sydney Roosters on Sunday that kept Cronulla in the finals hunt and knocked the title favourites off No.1 spot.
While happy with the result, Raper was still looking for improvement from his super sub as the Sharks entered the home straight in the race for a finals berth.
"For the first 20 minutes (against Roosters) we were playing fairly dull footy, I was hoping Sully could ignite something and he did," Raper said.
"He creates so much, the defence just panics because he is so quick, he did some terrific things for us.
"Although I've got to kick him for his kicking game. I've never seen him kick the ball dead so many times."
Sullivan took the criticism on the chin as he planned to chime into a two pronged kicking onslaught with fit-again Brett Kimmorley against the Eels on Saturday.
"I'm pretty comfortable with my role. I come on and do what I can for the team - sometimes it's right, sometimes it's not," he said.
"Stuey works really hard on me trying to get my (kicking) percentages up - more often than not it is the right play but it's something I can build on in the finals and work on even more."
While Raper said he was "99 per cent" certain Kimmorley would finally overcome a hamstring injury against Parramatta, Sullivan said the Sharks weren't losing sleep over their chief playmaker's return.
"Noddy (Kimmorley) comes back when Noddy is ready. The team knows that so we've got to perform with or without him," he said.
"He may get injured again next year who knows, he's not infallible.
"It's just about the team performing with whoever we've got on the paddock, we've been doing that consistently now.
"We've been competitive nearly every game without him. Hopefully we can keep doing that and he'll be a boost when he comes back."
Sullivan said the win over the Roosters had steeled the Sharks for a last gasp crack at a top eight finish.
The Sharks (11th; 10-11 record) are vying for eighth spot with Wests Tigers (8th; 10-11), Newcastle (9th; 9-11) and Canberra (10th; 10-11) with four regular season rounds left.
"The confidence has always been there, team morale has always been really good in the side but it's something else to knock off the top of the table side," Sullivan said.
"There's something about being persistent and not throwing in the towel.
"That's what the top four sides do week in, week out. There's no week off.
10 August 2004
Sometimes it's hard to please Cronulla Sharks coach Stuart Raper.
Utility Michael Sullivan played a match-turning hand from the bench in the Sharks' shock 26-12 NRL win over the Sydney Roosters on Sunday that kept Cronulla in the finals hunt and knocked the title favourites off No.1 spot.
While happy with the result, Raper was still looking for improvement from his super sub as the Sharks entered the home straight in the race for a finals berth.
"For the first 20 minutes (against Roosters) we were playing fairly dull footy, I was hoping Sully could ignite something and he did," Raper said.
"He creates so much, the defence just panics because he is so quick, he did some terrific things for us.
"Although I've got to kick him for his kicking game. I've never seen him kick the ball dead so many times."
Sullivan took the criticism on the chin as he planned to chime into a two pronged kicking onslaught with fit-again Brett Kimmorley against the Eels on Saturday.
"I'm pretty comfortable with my role. I come on and do what I can for the team - sometimes it's right, sometimes it's not," he said.
"Stuey works really hard on me trying to get my (kicking) percentages up - more often than not it is the right play but it's something I can build on in the finals and work on even more."
While Raper said he was "99 per cent" certain Kimmorley would finally overcome a hamstring injury against Parramatta, Sullivan said the Sharks weren't losing sleep over their chief playmaker's return.
"Noddy (Kimmorley) comes back when Noddy is ready. The team knows that so we've got to perform with or without him," he said.
"He may get injured again next year who knows, he's not infallible.
"It's just about the team performing with whoever we've got on the paddock, we've been doing that consistently now.
"We've been competitive nearly every game without him. Hopefully we can keep doing that and he'll be a boost when he comes back."
Sullivan said the win over the Roosters had steeled the Sharks for a last gasp crack at a top eight finish.
The Sharks (11th; 10-11 record) are vying for eighth spot with Wests Tigers (8th; 10-11), Newcastle (9th; 9-11) and Canberra (10th; 10-11) with four regular season rounds left.
"The confidence has always been there, team morale has always been really good in the side but it's something else to knock off the top of the table side," Sullivan said.
"There's something about being persistent and not throwing in the towel.
"That's what the top four sides do week in, week out. There's no week off.
