A couple of negative articles coming out of the News Ltd ranks. I wasn't going to post them but it's good to see the enemy within sometimes.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sp...n/news-story/91e43ef39da8b16ce97295f723162f93
Darren Mooney is yet to start his new job as Cronulla’s head of football but the problems are already mounting. Mooney will walk into a delicate situation involving an unbalanced salary cap, several star players who have entered the final year of their deals, and a coach who is coming off contract at the end of 2021.
The issues are all intertwined. Mooney will be armed with money to spend and a desire to spend it, but his hands will be tied to an extent, unless the Sharks make a decision on the future of coach
John Morris.
Morris has led the Sharks to successive finals series in his first two years in charge but there is a feeling that the jury is still out, at least where club powerbrokers are concerned.
Barely a week goes by without murmurs over his future and potential replacements. The latest whisper is that Roosters assistant
Craig Fitzgibbon is on the Sharks’ radar. Previously, it was former Cowboys coach and Sharks player
Paul Green.
If Cronulla is making contingency plans, Fitzgibbon would be at the top of its hit-list. He is at most clubs. Green will no doubt come into consideration as well.
The speculation isn’t going away and it won’t until Cronulla makes a decision about its coach beyond 2021. The ripple effect could yet affect Mooney’s ability to rebuild the roster.
Mooney’s sales pitch to potential recruits becomes all the more difficult while the uncertainty remains around who will be in charge. The same applies to players currently at the club who are in the final year of their deals — and there are plenty of them.
Halfback
Shaun Johnson heads the list and it is believed the Sharks will bide their time with their talisman, who is recovering from a torn achilles tendon. His manager has reached out to chief executive
Dino Mezzatesta but the sense is that Cronulla is in no rush, happy to see how Johnson returns from an injury that ended his season.
Josh Dugan, Matt Moylan, Toby Rudolf, Siosifa Talakai, Connor Tracey and
Aaron Woods are all off contract at the end of the season. Halfback
Chad Townsend has an option in his favour, meaning he can hit the open market if he so chooses.
All told, they represent more than 40 per cent of the club’s salary cap. There will be an appetite to extend Talakai, Tracey and Rudolf given the seasons they have had and the fact they aren’t on huge contracts. Any decisions on Woods and Dugan are likely to depend on the asking price. They aren’t the players they once were, but they can still get the job done.
Moylan is a different story. The Sharks are unlikely to make a decision on him any time soon. Moylan has barely played in recent seasons and when he has, he has struggled to make the sort of impact his contract demands.
Earlier this year, Wests Tigers wanted to sign Moylan on a big-money deal. He opted to stay at Cronulla. He may come to regret that decision given there is no urgency at the Sharks to get his signature on a new deal.
Mooney has plenty on his plate. He will need to hit the ground running when he does start. The club could make his job easier by making a call on Morris sooner rather than later.
