AFTER losing badly to Brisbane in the first week of June, the Cronulla players knew they had to turn things around immediately or the second half of the season was going to be a waste of time. So they did what football teams do in these circumstances - they held a meeting and challenged each other to find that bit extra in themselves.
Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but the result for the Sharks has been four straight wins to take them to the edge of the eight and setting up a huge local derby game against premiers St George Illawarra tonight.
From the vastly experienced players to the young ones, it is clear they all got something out of it.
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''We played pretty ordinary against Brisbane and had the bye after that,'' 230-game hooker John Morris said. ''When we got back together again after the bye, we had a meeting. The coach ran it, and no one was beating around the bush. We had to get serious about ourselves or the season was gone.''
Nathan Gardner, the 29-game fullback whose form since entering first grade suggests he has the rugby league world at his feet, said the meeting was all about solutions, not excuses.
''That was when we set up the plan for our next four games,'' Gardner said. ''The goal was to win at least three of them, to put some life back into our season. We knew that the next month was going to determine our season, and that even if we won two of those games, it wasn't going to be enough. We needed to start performing straight away.
''There was a lot of honesty amongst the boys at the meeting. We had to be honest with each other if we were serious about getting somewhere. As it turned out, we won all four games.''
Morris said one of the main things that came out of the meeting was a decision to change the way the team trained, and put more pressure on the players that way.
''Our training sessions got much more intense,'' he said. ''It became a lot more like games. It was sharper, harder, and it's paying off with our defence. We've scored a heap of points over the last four rounds, but it's because of our defence that we're able to do so well in attack. We're really ripping in there.
''Also, Sammy [Tagataese, a mid-season buy from Gold Coast] came in around then and he has changed the dynamics of the team. We're getting some great impact off the bench now, from guys like Sammy and 'Toops' [Anthony Tupou]. The last month has been really good for us. Four wins in a row, and we've got that confidence in ourselves now. Everyone knows their role, and is delivering.
''But we can't afford to lose too many from here, so this game against the Dragons is a massive one. We respect them as reigning champions. We're aware of the type of football team they are.
''It's perfect timing for us in the form we're in, because the result against a team as good as the Dragons will tell us exactly where we stand.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...or-cronulla-20110717-1hkc2.html#ixzz1SQ2JZ6VP
Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't, but the result for the Sharks has been four straight wins to take them to the edge of the eight and setting up a huge local derby game against premiers St George Illawarra tonight.
From the vastly experienced players to the young ones, it is clear they all got something out of it.
Advertisement: Story continues below
''We played pretty ordinary against Brisbane and had the bye after that,'' 230-game hooker John Morris said. ''When we got back together again after the bye, we had a meeting. The coach ran it, and no one was beating around the bush. We had to get serious about ourselves or the season was gone.''
Nathan Gardner, the 29-game fullback whose form since entering first grade suggests he has the rugby league world at his feet, said the meeting was all about solutions, not excuses.
''That was when we set up the plan for our next four games,'' Gardner said. ''The goal was to win at least three of them, to put some life back into our season. We knew that the next month was going to determine our season, and that even if we won two of those games, it wasn't going to be enough. We needed to start performing straight away.
''There was a lot of honesty amongst the boys at the meeting. We had to be honest with each other if we were serious about getting somewhere. As it turned out, we won all four games.''
Morris said one of the main things that came out of the meeting was a decision to change the way the team trained, and put more pressure on the players that way.
''Our training sessions got much more intense,'' he said. ''It became a lot more like games. It was sharper, harder, and it's paying off with our defence. We've scored a heap of points over the last four rounds, but it's because of our defence that we're able to do so well in attack. We're really ripping in there.
''Also, Sammy [Tagataese, a mid-season buy from Gold Coast] came in around then and he has changed the dynamics of the team. We're getting some great impact off the bench now, from guys like Sammy and 'Toops' [Anthony Tupou]. The last month has been really good for us. Four wins in a row, and we've got that confidence in ourselves now. Everyone knows their role, and is delivering.
''But we can't afford to lose too many from here, so this game against the Dragons is a massive one. We respect them as reigning champions. We're aware of the type of football team they are.
''It's perfect timing for us in the form we're in, because the result against a team as good as the Dragons will tell us exactly where we stand.''
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...or-cronulla-20110717-1hkc2.html#ixzz1SQ2JZ6VP
