Cronulla looking to move out of the Big Red V's shadow
Andrew Webster July 16, 2011 12:00AM
SHANE Flanagan was looking for the last piece of the puzzle.
He had already approached some of the Sharks loyal supporters, squeezing out a few thousand here and there to build a new gym in the southern stand at Toyota Stadium.
Every NRL club has a high-performance unit, and without one the Sharks were going to be sniffing the vapour of their rivals for seasons to come.
"I needed it," the coach says bluntly.
The missing piece was a boxing ring, which is appropriate if you dare to think in terms of Rocky cliches and the underdog fighting against the odds and all that.
That's when Flanagan, who had taken over from Ricky Stuart as coach of the embattled club midway through 2010, scoured eBay and found one for sale from a gym closing down in Melbourne.
After Flanagan had won the auction, he arranged for a truckie mate to bring it to the Shire on a backloader.
Consider that for a minute. Could you imagine Wayne Bennett sitting at his laptop, refreshing his screen as the time of the auction ticks down, to buy gym equipment for his professional football club?
"Well, I didn't think it would ever be in my job description either," Flanagan grins.
The notion of the underdog, the sense of being a club on the absolute bones of their arse, is something the Sharkies are desperately trying to shake. They are tired of being the poor cousin.
Yet the stigma remains nonetheless and only more so when it comes to this point of the season when they play their local derby against St George Illawarra - one of the genuine superclubs of the competition.
The Sharks: they of no premierships, a smallish but passionate fan base, with a constant battle for survival since their inception in 1967.
The Dragons: they of a proud history from the St George side of the merger, deep pools of talent from the Illawarra side of the equation, of premierships and a national brand in that big Red V that sponsors cling to like lint.
The Sharks versus Dragons. David versus Goliath.
For decades, Sharks coaches have used that inferiority to motivate their sides, to enable them to punch above their weight: "At different times we have used it as motivation," Flanagan reveals. "We've gone in with the mindset that these blokes don't respect us. They are big brother. It's because of St George's success that rivalry exists. We look across the bay and there's St George with all those premierships and we don't have any. We are envious."
The Dragons have long been a popular club, and much of that can be ascribed from their fabled run of 11 premierships in the 1950s and 60s when the likes of Raper, Gasnier, Provan and Langlands built their astonishing brand.
Since winning minor premierships and, at long last a title under Bennett in the last three years, it has grown.
The club has often thought nationally, even globally. When it recently held flood fundraisers in Bennett's hometown of Warwick in regional Queensland recently, chief executive Peter Doust was genuinely shocked at the support.
"That is something we've tried to propagate," says Doust.
"I don't know what the Sharks do, but there has been a conscious decision from our club in recent years to increase our brand awareness. We realise the strength of the Red V."
Historically, they don't think that grand in the Shire, which often draws tongue-in-cheek comparisons to Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings given its supposed insularity.
A few years ago, the NRL wanted to entice fans out of Toyota Stadium to a game at Homebush by using this billboard: "Even Bilbo Baggins left the Shire to come to ANZ Stadium on Sunday."
The Sharks board didn't see the funny side of it.
That's why they scoff at the mere thought of relocating, despite the club's precarious financial situation and the millions on offer from the NRL as enticement.
"The fear is they would stop supporting rugby league altogether," says one senior NRL figure.
"They would watch the game, but they would not support a relocated club. And they certainly would not support St George."
What of the Sharks finances?
Chairman Damian Irvine must have regular meetings with the St George Bank to discuss just how much the club can spend on a weekly basis.
So much rests with their $300m residential and retail development, which is awaiting approval from the NSW Department of Planning.
"Nine months," says Irvine. "That's when we will have a definitive answer on it.
"It would be a severe and shocking blow if it was rejected. Right now, I describe our financial situation as stable."
As a coach, Flanagan will always have one eye on those dollars but they don't consume him.
As it stands, he is in command of a team that has won its last four, that sits just outside the eight, that is allowing itself to think about the prospect of playing September footy.
When he gathers his players together at the recently refurbished rooms at Kogarah Oval, he won't be talking about big brother on the other side of the tunnel.
"In the past, we have gone down that path for motivation, a bit of anger," Flanagan says.
"But we don't need to do it now. It won't be a factor."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ig-red-vs-shadow/story-e6frexnr-1226095571253
Andrew Webster July 16, 2011 12:00AM
SHANE Flanagan was looking for the last piece of the puzzle.
He had already approached some of the Sharks loyal supporters, squeezing out a few thousand here and there to build a new gym in the southern stand at Toyota Stadium.
Every NRL club has a high-performance unit, and without one the Sharks were going to be sniffing the vapour of their rivals for seasons to come.
"I needed it," the coach says bluntly.
The missing piece was a boxing ring, which is appropriate if you dare to think in terms of Rocky cliches and the underdog fighting against the odds and all that.
That's when Flanagan, who had taken over from Ricky Stuart as coach of the embattled club midway through 2010, scoured eBay and found one for sale from a gym closing down in Melbourne.
After Flanagan had won the auction, he arranged for a truckie mate to bring it to the Shire on a backloader.
Consider that for a minute. Could you imagine Wayne Bennett sitting at his laptop, refreshing his screen as the time of the auction ticks down, to buy gym equipment for his professional football club?
"Well, I didn't think it would ever be in my job description either," Flanagan grins.
The notion of the underdog, the sense of being a club on the absolute bones of their arse, is something the Sharkies are desperately trying to shake. They are tired of being the poor cousin.
Yet the stigma remains nonetheless and only more so when it comes to this point of the season when they play their local derby against St George Illawarra - one of the genuine superclubs of the competition.
The Sharks: they of no premierships, a smallish but passionate fan base, with a constant battle for survival since their inception in 1967.
The Dragons: they of a proud history from the St George side of the merger, deep pools of talent from the Illawarra side of the equation, of premierships and a national brand in that big Red V that sponsors cling to like lint.
The Sharks versus Dragons. David versus Goliath.
For decades, Sharks coaches have used that inferiority to motivate their sides, to enable them to punch above their weight: "At different times we have used it as motivation," Flanagan reveals. "We've gone in with the mindset that these blokes don't respect us. They are big brother. It's because of St George's success that rivalry exists. We look across the bay and there's St George with all those premierships and we don't have any. We are envious."
The Dragons have long been a popular club, and much of that can be ascribed from their fabled run of 11 premierships in the 1950s and 60s when the likes of Raper, Gasnier, Provan and Langlands built their astonishing brand.
Since winning minor premierships and, at long last a title under Bennett in the last three years, it has grown.
The club has often thought nationally, even globally. When it recently held flood fundraisers in Bennett's hometown of Warwick in regional Queensland recently, chief executive Peter Doust was genuinely shocked at the support.
"That is something we've tried to propagate," says Doust.
"I don't know what the Sharks do, but there has been a conscious decision from our club in recent years to increase our brand awareness. We realise the strength of the Red V."
Historically, they don't think that grand in the Shire, which often draws tongue-in-cheek comparisons to Middle Earth from Lord of the Rings given its supposed insularity.
A few years ago, the NRL wanted to entice fans out of Toyota Stadium to a game at Homebush by using this billboard: "Even Bilbo Baggins left the Shire to come to ANZ Stadium on Sunday."
The Sharks board didn't see the funny side of it.
That's why they scoff at the mere thought of relocating, despite the club's precarious financial situation and the millions on offer from the NRL as enticement.
"The fear is they would stop supporting rugby league altogether," says one senior NRL figure.
"They would watch the game, but they would not support a relocated club. And they certainly would not support St George."
What of the Sharks finances?
Chairman Damian Irvine must have regular meetings with the St George Bank to discuss just how much the club can spend on a weekly basis.
So much rests with their $300m residential and retail development, which is awaiting approval from the NSW Department of Planning.
"Nine months," says Irvine. "That's when we will have a definitive answer on it.
"It would be a severe and shocking blow if it was rejected. Right now, I describe our financial situation as stable."
As a coach, Flanagan will always have one eye on those dollars but they don't consume him.
As it stands, he is in command of a team that has won its last four, that sits just outside the eight, that is allowing itself to think about the prospect of playing September footy.
When he gathers his players together at the recently refurbished rooms at Kogarah Oval, he won't be talking about big brother on the other side of the tunnel.
"In the past, we have gone down that path for motivation, a bit of anger," Flanagan says.
"But we don't need to do it now. It won't be a factor."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...ig-red-vs-shadow/story-e6frexnr-1226095571253
