BY BRAD FORREST
13 Dec, 2011 04:00 AM
SHANE Flanagan says he learnt more last season in his first full season as first grade coach than he did in the past 10 years.
Thats why he was able to make a giant stamp on the football club operations in preparation for the 2012 NRL season shaping as the most important in the clubs 45-year history.
He gunned for two big new props instead of one, for the gifted but controversial Todd Carney when others had rejected him; for an experienced assistant coach in Peter Sharp; and a greater playing depth in key positions for a team which finished 13th.
And he told his trainers he wanted the side fitter and faster than ever not by round one next year but by this Christmas with the club incorporating a new (Zuu Fit) training routine which incorporates exercises focusing on core body strength
and stability.
Except for one blooper Albert Kellys arrest for disobeying a police order Flanagan has got his pre-Christmas wishes.
Our outside backs are flying in training, outside Todd Carney, Flanagan said. Todd has made a huge difference to them with his speed and knowledge of the game. Competition for forward spots has never been greater, with (internationals) Paul Gallen and Jeremy Smith still to come back from their rest.
Our players know I will measure them against the top four [from 2011], not just the top eight. Our new playing group will turn those close losses into wins.
Flanagan, 46, might be among the games youngest NRL coaches but the former St George junior who played most of his first grade (six seasons) football with Wests and Parramatta has gleaned a lifetime of experience by working under NRL heavyweights Craig Bellamy, Brian Smith and Ricky Stuart, and as assistant coach for NSW and Australian teams. He became head Shark with the sudden exit of Stuart in July last year. When the financially struggling club couldnt afford enough workmen to finish a new gym at Toyota Stadium, Flanagan got down and dirty and worked around the clock to get it finished in time for the 2011 season.
You wouldnt see too many head coaches do what Shane did, said one parent, who lent a hand along with the Sharks players. He was quite amazing.
Still, Flanagan watched in anguish as the Sharks 2011 season was ruined by close losses on
the field.
When the Tigers released Bryce Gibbs and offered him to the Sharks, who were losing Kade Snowden (Newcastle) and Luke Douglas (Titans), Flanagan insisted the bigger, younger Andrew Fifita just selected for the annual star-studded Indigenous All Stars team to play the NRL All Stars on February 4 be part of the deal.
The Tigers baulked initially before realising the depth of their salary cap problems because of their offer to buy Melbourne Storm Kiwi international, Adam Blair, and so Fifita had a new home. And a few other Tigers left.
Flanagan always believed the Sharks didnt try hard enough to keep lively hooker Isaac De Gois when he was wooed to Newcastle by coach Brian Smith in 2009, so he was pleased when the Knights released De Gois, snapping him up for 2012, along with rugged Knights teammate Mark Taufua.
New props Ben Ross, Jon Green and Bryce Gibbs, as well as Jeremy Smith, have grand finals premiership experience, and Todd Carney, new half/hooker Robson, De Gois, Taufua, and Paul Gallen have semi-finals experience, Flanagan said.
Flanagan and football manager Darren Mooney also moved to multiskill the Sharks small group of football/leagues club staff (about 15 compared with up to 60 with some other clubs), adding another football brain in Peter Sharp, a development officer and a welfare officer along the way.
Over the next two years Flanagan wants the Sharks playing the NRL finals and to benefit from work going ahead on the planned $300 million Sharks development, now awaiting state government approval.
Whether you are a Shark supporter or not, the fact is this [development] will not only help support a team playing in a national sporting competition, but also about 300 kids trying out for different Sharks academy and junior teams, their families and the hundreds of shire families who work for the leagues or football clubs.
Where do you think the Sharks will finish?
