blacktip-reefy
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If you want the club to fold.
But hey, I reckon he should just back off by 30% & that should fix things.
SACK coach Ricky Stuart!
That would be the easy option for struggling Cronulla. Punt the coach and appease some disgruntled fans and critics of the club by making him the scapegoat for what's not happening with the team.
How many times have we seen a coach pay the price when his side fails to perform?
It's almost become a natural reaction to want to sack someone (usually the coach) if things aren't going well just to be seen to be doing something.
Of course, getting rid of Stuart would do far more harm than good and send the Sharks further into the mire than they already are.
He is one of the best coaches in the game. No one is more passionate about his club and his players.
The Sharks' problems aren't coach related. There is now a smell about the place and it's come directly from the perception the club is on its financial death bed.
Now, I don't know how bad the financial situation is at Cronulla.
But nothing you read or hear about the place is positive, even from inside the Sharks' ranks.
There has been talk they are not spending up to the salary cap level and that the budget for the club's lower grades has been slashed because money is so tight.
Whatever the case, the pessimism surrounding the club's future is doing nothing to improve the one area the Sharks must improve if they are to be a force again - player recruitment.
Looking at their roster right now, the Sharks have great promise in many areas.
In Kade Snowden and Luke Douglas, they have two of the best young props in the game.
They have a world class back-rower in Paul Gallen, exciting young backs in Blake Ferguson, Isaac Gordon and Albert Kelly and there are raps on Luke O'Donnell's younger brother Kyle.
But the team lacks experience and it lacks quality in key areas.
Trent Barrett has been great for the club but is nearing the end of his career. John Morris is more a solid utility player than a first string hooker and to be fair, as a centre pairing, Dean Collis and Taulima Tautai aren't going to put the fear of God into the opposition.
One of the Sharks' key off-season buys, Adam Cuthbertson has struggled to get anywhere near the form which regularly saw him chosen in Manly's 17-man NRL squad.
Stuart is doing the best he can with an inferior playing roster devoid of world-class players.
It really is as simple as that.
To become a premiership force again in the short term, the Sharks desperately need two or three top-shelf recruits in the right positions.
The problem with that is they will have to pay big overs to entice anyone because not too many players will be keen to join an under-performing club with a black cloud hanging over its future.
It all gets back to finances, something the Sharks are obviously not flush with.
I know their president Damien Irvine personally and I know how passionate he is about the Sharks.
I know he and Stuart will be doing whatever it takes to lift the Sharks out of the basement.
But there is no quick fix to the sort of problems the club is facing unless they get some financial muscle.
Until then, fans just need to be patient and stick solid.
But hey, I reckon he should just back off by 30% & that should fix things.
SACK coach Ricky Stuart!
That would be the easy option for struggling Cronulla. Punt the coach and appease some disgruntled fans and critics of the club by making him the scapegoat for what's not happening with the team.
How many times have we seen a coach pay the price when his side fails to perform?
It's almost become a natural reaction to want to sack someone (usually the coach) if things aren't going well just to be seen to be doing something.
Of course, getting rid of Stuart would do far more harm than good and send the Sharks further into the mire than they already are.
He is one of the best coaches in the game. No one is more passionate about his club and his players.
The Sharks' problems aren't coach related. There is now a smell about the place and it's come directly from the perception the club is on its financial death bed.
Now, I don't know how bad the financial situation is at Cronulla.
But nothing you read or hear about the place is positive, even from inside the Sharks' ranks.
There has been talk they are not spending up to the salary cap level and that the budget for the club's lower grades has been slashed because money is so tight.
Whatever the case, the pessimism surrounding the club's future is doing nothing to improve the one area the Sharks must improve if they are to be a force again - player recruitment.
Looking at their roster right now, the Sharks have great promise in many areas.
In Kade Snowden and Luke Douglas, they have two of the best young props in the game.
They have a world class back-rower in Paul Gallen, exciting young backs in Blake Ferguson, Isaac Gordon and Albert Kelly and there are raps on Luke O'Donnell's younger brother Kyle.
But the team lacks experience and it lacks quality in key areas.
Trent Barrett has been great for the club but is nearing the end of his career. John Morris is more a solid utility player than a first string hooker and to be fair, as a centre pairing, Dean Collis and Taulima Tautai aren't going to put the fear of God into the opposition.
One of the Sharks' key off-season buys, Adam Cuthbertson has struggled to get anywhere near the form which regularly saw him chosen in Manly's 17-man NRL squad.
Stuart is doing the best he can with an inferior playing roster devoid of world-class players.
It really is as simple as that.
To become a premiership force again in the short term, the Sharks desperately need two or three top-shelf recruits in the right positions.
The problem with that is they will have to pay big overs to entice anyone because not too many players will be keen to join an under-performing club with a black cloud hanging over its future.
It all gets back to finances, something the Sharks are obviously not flush with.
I know their president Damien Irvine personally and I know how passionate he is about the Sharks.
I know he and Stuart will be doing whatever it takes to lift the Sharks out of the basement.
But there is no quick fix to the sort of problems the club is facing unless they get some financial muscle.
Until then, fans just need to be patient and stick solid.
