Ben Barba Sharks: Cronulla winning streak hiding worrying flaw in make-up of Flanagans side
VALENTINE Holmes is fast becoming Cronullas most potent outside back.
Michael Gordon is a proven winger and goalkicker.
Jack Bird might well be leading the race for rookie of the year and its been his sensational selection at five-eighth as much as anything thats turned the Sharks season around.
Yet Shane Flanagan seems determined to stick with Ben Barba on the bench a tactic that at face value has worked, with the Sharks winning both games since the big-name recruit returned from a two-week suspension.
Dig a little deeper and the numbers provided by the Fox Sports Lab say its a ticking time bomb.
Barba has now played 88 minutes off the bench 40 against Newcastle in last weeks big win and 48 in Monday nights upset over the Rabbitohs in near cyclonic conditions.
In those two matches the Sharks have outscored their opponents by a combined eight points with Barba on the field. A pretty good result.
However, during the 72 minutes Barbas been cooling his heels on the sideline, the Sharks have been double as effective, outscoring their opponents by a combined 16 points.
Cronulla have leaked more points and scored less with Barba on the field so hes not improving their attack or their defence.
Yet heres what Flanagan had to say about the most expensive bench player in the competition late last week: Hes a quality player and he will be in our 17 somewhere.
He could trot out there on Monday and start, hes an important player for us.
Benny at the moment contributes a fair bit for us at fullback so Ive a bit of rotation going on where I can move Valentine Holmes on to the wing and Michael Gordon into the centres if we need to.
Its a good luxury to have.
Kind words from a coach trying to restore some confidence to an x-factor player who badly needs some.
But the data says theyre off the mark.
Barring an injury to Holmes, Bird, or Gordon, it seems unthinkable that Barba will find himself back in the starting 13 in the coming weeks.
So the argument Flanagan has to have with himself each time he selects his side is over the balance of his bench and whether or not hes getting full value from it.
The data, limited as it is, so far says hes not, and theres got to be some reason the Sharks are the only side in the competition that carries a backline utility on the bench (Kodi Nikorima has most commonly been used at hooker by the Broncos).
Has Flanagan stumbled onto a magical formula and got one over the other 15 coaches or are Cronullas wins hiding a flaw in the make up of their 17?
Only time will tell, but its difficult not to get the sense Barba is only making the side at the moment because of his $750,000-a-year salary even if the Broncos are footing the bill for half of it.
Source
