From sharks.com.au
SHARKS SHOW SOME GOOD SIGNS IN SOUTH COAST TRIALS
The Cronulla Sharks continued their pre season preparations with two solid trial outings against the Canberra Raiders on Saturday evening in Mollymook.
The Under-20 Jersey Flegg Sharks and the Premier League
side which included NRL first graders Chris Beattie and Paul
Franze, both showed positive signs, scoring some enterprising
tries despite coming out on the wrong side of the score lines in
both matches.
The Premier League Sharks jumped out to a 10-0 advantage before major changes
in personnel and a few too many errors in the greasy conditions enabled the Raiders
to gain the upper hand during the dying moments of the match. The score finished 16-10
in favour of the Canberra side.
The Jersey Flegg match followed a similar path, the Sharks leading 10-0 early before
being overrun in the later stages. The Raiders went on to win by a score of 32-16.
However it was the Premier League match that attracted the most attention from the
vocal Mollymook crowd, with local boy Shaun Wessell stealing the show. The big front rower,
who played his junior football for the Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs, entered the game in the
third quarter to a rousing reception and he didnt disappoint his vocal supporters. A fired up
Wessell smashed into the opposition in defence, while also taking the ball forward strongly
in attack.
Another player to make an impression on the night was winger Dimitri Pelo, a new Sharks
recruit from the Burleigh Bears in Queensland. Pelo was busy and dangerous in attack with
his light-stepping runs and despite his lack of size stood up in defence and tackled strongly.
Still only 18 years of age and unlikely to be used in the first grade team at this stage of his
career, Pelo nonetheless caught the eye on the night, later being awarded man-of-the-match
in an official ceremony conducted at the Marlin Hotel in Ulladulla.
In the Premier League match it was the Sharks who were first on the board. A smart back
line movement saw rangy lock Cameron Ciraldo chime in, the local Sharks junior from the
St Josephs club throwing a sensational one-handed ball to Michael Sullivan who scampered
20 metres to score. Sullivan took on the goal kicking duties to convert his own try.
The Sharks continued to pressure the Raiders line and were rewarded for their persistence
when young forward Reece Williams ran into a big hole in the Canberra defence to dive over
for the Sharks second score.
In what was as rough and rugged an encounter as can be expected once the competition
proper gets underway, Canberra controlled the ball better than the Sharks in the final two
quarters of the game and, as a consequence, also enjoyed the advantage on the scoreboard.
A try from a cross-field kick in the final minutes confirmed the victory for the Raiders.
After missing the match with Parramatta due to illness, Beattie enjoyed a strong hit out playing
close to 50 minutes of the match. Daniel Dumas was also impressive for the Sharks, rattling the
Raiders on a number of occasions with some bone-crunching tackles.
The only injury concerns came when Michael Russo was replaced early in the match with a
shoulder injury and when Franze had to be assisted from the field after being left dazed after
attempting a tackle. Franze was nursing a headache later that evening but was expected to
show no lasting effects, while Russo will be assessed further during the week.
In the under-20s match Travis Burns at halfback looked sharp for the Cronulla side, crossing
for two tries, while centre Kurt Pouhtaua scored the other four-pointer in the Sharks 16 point
total. Despite also trailing 10-0 early, the Raiders looked impressive in putting on 32 points in
the final two periods of the game, running out convincing winners.
For the Sharks front rowers Nathan Vagg and Michael Greenfield were among their
better-performed players.
The Sharks have one final pre season fine-tune this weekend in Port Macquarie before a week
off leading into their round one clash with the Wests Tigers at Telstra Stadium on March 13.
The Sharks arrived in the Mollymook area on Thursday last week, conducted coaching clinics
and attended promotional appearances. They were due back in Cronulla on Monday afternoon.
The week in the South Coast was being hailed a big success with the local authorities keen to
have a similar trial match in the town again in 2005.
