It's believed many computer keyboards have been destroyed over the years by Cronulla supporters venting their spleen on internet forum sites about the Sharks' long-serving centre Ben Pomeroy's tendency to push the envelope in critical moments of a game.
According to Pomeroy, that grit was ingrained in his game when he played for Cambridge Park in the Penrith juniors.
However, the 29-year-old, who joined the Sharks in 2006, won't apologise for adding starch to the Shane Flanagan-coached team that plays Manly in Friday's elimination final at Allianz Stadium.
"I like a physical game. I did like the shoulder charge and I'm a bit disappointed it's not there any more"
''Hopefully they think I'm hard to handle,'' Pomeroy said. ''I'm just out there doing my best. I'm not the flashiest centre in the game but I definitely like to think the opposition thinks they're going to get a tough game out of me.
''I like a physical game. I did like the shoulder charge and I'm a bit disappointed it's not there any more. Rugby league is a contact game and it does go wrong from time to time and I think every player in the game understands that it's just the way it is.''
Pomeroy, who played 10 top grade games for the Panthers before accepting an offer to join Cronulla because they needed more depth in the centres, said his attitude about the Sharks had changed dramatically.
''I didn't know much about them except Andrew Ettingshausen played here,'' he said. ''As a kid, I thought they were a team full of surfies because you'd play against blokes [in junior rep games] with long blond hair.''
Pomeroy received an extra reason to celebrate Cronulla's effort to make the finals after it's season of turmoil after being offered a new contract by the club's management.
Read more:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...be-changing-20130917-2txa6.html#ixzz2fCQO6F5m
