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Courtesy of NRL.com
Kimmorley says Sharks are fast, with Vagana to come
Cronulla captain Brett Kimmorley said the Sharks showed speed to burn in their opening rugby league trial tonight - and that was without strike weapon Nigel Vagana.
Test halfback Kimmorley played three-quarters of tonight's 60-12 victory over four Central Coast sides in Gosford (one for each quarter), with former club skipper David Peachey watching from the sideline after a tumultuous week.
Former South Sydney flyer Nathan Merritt and fellow winger Matthew Rieck bagged two tries each for the Sharks in a match coach Stuart Raper described as "fairly aggressive".
Hassan Saleh, who was released by St George Illawarra and only signed to Cronulla yesterday, also scored a try, as did centre Paul Franze in his comeback match from a serious knee injury.
Kimmorley was particularly impressed with his side's speed, with Vagana unavailable for the trials because of recent shoulder surgery.
"Without Nigel we looked pretty exciting, which is a good thing for us because we know we've got a lot of forwards with added speed," the No.7 said.
Kimmorley declared himself ready to lead the Sharks, who finished a disappointing 12th last year, following a lengthy break after the Kangaroo tour to Great Britain ended in November.
"I got a good break before Christmas. The body feels good and my fitness is good as well," he said.
"I've got no problems with starting this early and look forward to playing again next week."
Raper said he was happy that his players emerged unscathed from a solid hit-out.
"The opposition played fairly aggressive, which gave us what we needed," said Raper.
"That's what I was looking for - a physical game which was as close to NRL standard as you could have.
"We dropped a lot of ball in typical trial fashion, mainly though timing but not through not knowing what each other was going to do."
Peachey, who went AWOL and only turned up to training yesterday after dealing with personal problems, should play in a trial against Parramatta in Ballina next Saturday.
Kimmorley says Sharks are fast, with Vagana to come
Cronulla captain Brett Kimmorley said the Sharks showed speed to burn in their opening rugby league trial tonight - and that was without strike weapon Nigel Vagana.
Test halfback Kimmorley played three-quarters of tonight's 60-12 victory over four Central Coast sides in Gosford (one for each quarter), with former club skipper David Peachey watching from the sideline after a tumultuous week.
Former South Sydney flyer Nathan Merritt and fellow winger Matthew Rieck bagged two tries each for the Sharks in a match coach Stuart Raper described as "fairly aggressive".
Hassan Saleh, who was released by St George Illawarra and only signed to Cronulla yesterday, also scored a try, as did centre Paul Franze in his comeback match from a serious knee injury.
Kimmorley was particularly impressed with his side's speed, with Vagana unavailable for the trials because of recent shoulder surgery.
"Without Nigel we looked pretty exciting, which is a good thing for us because we know we've got a lot of forwards with added speed," the No.7 said.
Kimmorley declared himself ready to lead the Sharks, who finished a disappointing 12th last year, following a lengthy break after the Kangaroo tour to Great Britain ended in November.
"I got a good break before Christmas. The body feels good and my fitness is good as well," he said.
"I've got no problems with starting this early and look forward to playing again next week."
Raper said he was happy that his players emerged unscathed from a solid hit-out.
"The opposition played fairly aggressive, which gave us what we needed," said Raper.
"That's what I was looking for - a physical game which was as close to NRL standard as you could have.
"We dropped a lot of ball in typical trial fashion, mainly though timing but not through not knowing what each other was going to do."
Peachey, who went AWOL and only turned up to training yesterday after dealing with personal problems, should play in a trial against Parramatta in Ballina next Saturday.
