'It's our home': Dragons, Sharks trade barbs over Kogarah
Adam Pengilly
July 24, 2020 — 7.32pm
Leave a comment
If you walked down Jubilee Avenue near Kogarah Park on Friday, by the time you got to the bottom it was all #UpUp.
The road synonymous with the St George area, the Dragons and rugby league history had been splashed with the Sharks' hashtag, which is also the start of their famous singalong. Diehard Dragons fans reckon they've never seen anything so ghastly on their side of Tom Uglys Bridge.
But stroll into Kogarah's Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Saturday evening and you will receive your free face mask with Sharks branding. There will be a Cronulla flag, too.
"We'll get there and put as much black, white and blue around the place as we can," Cronulla chief executive Dino Mezzatesta said as the club makes the suburban venue its home for the next two years while its leagues club undergoes a redevelopment.
"Our players, our brand and our sponsors will be across our entire dressing room. That is important because when 'Bomber' [coach John Morris] and the team walk in there, it's ours. It's no one else's, it's ours."
It's our home. It's the home of red and white.
Paul McGregor
St George Illawarra coach Paul McGregor was having none of it. Smirking like a coach who won last week only can, he provided a gentle dig about who belongs at the ground when tossed up a half volley on Friday.
"It's our home," he said. "It's the home of red and white."
But for one night at least, that home will be in the away dressing sheds.
"That will be different for them," Mezzatesta laughed.
Earlier this week, there was even a suggestion Dragons members wouldn't be provided with a chance to attend the game given a capacity on crowds during the COVID-interrupted season.
The Sharks later granted the Red V faithful a small allocation, but weight of numbers will be against them on the concourse.
The Sharks have redesigned the home dressing sheds for their clash against the Dragons at Kogarah's Netstrata Jubilee Oval.
Putting aside squabbling over who the ground belongs to, the match is of huge significance to both clubs. They met earlier this year at Campbelltown Stadium when the Dragons notched their first win of the year. The Sharks will put a four-point buffer between them and the Dragons on the ladder with a reversal.
St George Illawarra, who engineered a miraculous escape against the Bulldogs last week, will start to lose touch with the finals contenders if they are beaten again.
"Every team in the competition want to be in the eight, and when you're in the eight you want to be in the four," McGregor said. "We're just going to take it week to week and prepare well to give ourselves the best chance to climb that ladder.
Six weeks ago we couldn't have done what we did in the last 20 minutes last week.
Paul McGregor
"Six weeks ago we couldn't have done what we did in the last 20 minutes last week. That's a good sign, a very good sign."
Morris will hand a debut to nephew Teig Wilton, who spurned big-money offers from rival clubs to stay at the Sharks. He has come onto the bench after Briton Nikora was suspended last week.
Josh Dugan is also down for the count after being pulled by the medical team at the 11th hour on Friday afternoon. The hamstring injury means Dugan's 200th game celebrations will be pushed back a week.
"I always wondered what it would be like for father and son relationships, like for [Ivan and Nathan] Cleary, but I don’t really see it like that at all … it’s a coach, player relationship," Morris said on Friday. "He hasn’t been given any leg-ups at all. He’s definitely earned his shot. The senior players really appreciate him and believe in him."
Morris also expressed concerns on Friday over the lengthy delay on Bronson Xerri's B-sample, which was scheduled to be tested on June 9.
On Friday,
the Sydney Morning Herald and
the Age reported that banned Australian swimmer Shayna Jack had reached out to Xerri to offer support amid the hold-up. Jack told her lawyer Tim Fuller he was extremely stressed as a result of the uncertainty.
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/it...trade-barbs-over-kogarah-20200724-p55f6y.html
