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Courtesy of NRL.com
Wake up Sharks
Once the cleanest club around, the Sharks have degenerated into the worst on-field offenders in the game. And after another typically petulant display last weekend, coach Stuart Raper has had enough. Peter Badel reports.
Furious Cronulla coach Stuart Raper has revealed he will take a zero tolerance approach to poor discipline in a bid to clean the Sharks' tarnished image as the bad boys of the NRL.
An investigation by Big League found the Sharks who for over 30 years have prided themselves on a drama-free, squeaky-clean image are unrivalled as the code's worst on-field transgressors, littered with impetuous players who contest almost every refereeing decision.
Ahead of the Sharks' clash with fellow strugglers North Queensland at Toyota Park this Saturday night, our wide-ranging analysis revealed Cronulla are:
- The most penalised side in the NRL;
- The kings of flouting ruck rules, leading the penalty counts for holding down and hands in the ruck;
- Guilty of more high tackles than any other side;
- Hampered by a handful of serial offenders headed by forward quartet Jason Stevens, Danny Nutley, Phil Bailey and Chris Beattie;
- The dirtiest club of the past 18 months, with four of the NRL's seven send-offs during that period involving Sharks players.
The damning findings come just a week after the Sutherland Shire club was hammered 36-12 by South Sydney in a performance veteran fullback David Peachey labelled "disgraceful".
Rookie coach Raper was livid with the squad's poor attitude, which saw Sharks players repeatedly remonstrate with referee Tony Archer.
Their frustration culminated with five-eighth Greg Bird being sent-off for kneeing Rabbitohs winger Shane Marteene in one of the game's most unsavoury acts of the past decade and Jason Stevens facing a tripping charge.
To compound their plight, Cronulla lost the penalty count 15-4.
Raper is fed up with the Sharks' ill-discipline and, in a scathing attack, has demanded players take ownership for their on-field behaviour.
"Poor discipline is killing us and it's something we've got to fix, otherwise we're never going to do anything this year," fired Raper.
"This is something that happened last year it's an attitude problem. Once we get a few penalties against us, we start blaming other people and the players have to start taking responsibility for their actions.
"They have to be smarter and realise they can't take shortcuts and get away with it. We have to make sure we do the right things and get on the right side of the referee."
A frustrated Raper has exhausted almost every avenue in his attempts to bring on-field order to the club.
He admits he arrived over summer with concern for Cronulla's night of shame at Parramatta Stadium last season.
Under former mentor Chris Anderson, the Sharks had two players sent-off and a further sin-binned as they crashed 74-4 the worst defeat in their history.
To avoid a repeat scenario, Raper consulted referees boss Robert Finch, who visited the club in pre-season with referee Shayne Hayne to iron out any rule misinterpretations.
Raper has also briefed the squad privately, telling players the top sides are those who rarely transgress.
Statistics would suggest Raper's pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
After four rounds of the new season, the Sharks have conceded 45 penalties the most in the league and more than twice that of North Queensland, whose 19 penalties make them the best behaved side.
Cronulla are easily the worst side when it comes to holding down and they lead the league for high tackles with five. Brisbane, meanwhile, have yet to be penalised for a high shot.
Of greatest concern, however, are the continual acts of petulance by a posse of Sharks.
Bailey, Nutley, Stevens and former skipper David Peachey regularly contest the referee's decision, often accompanying their concerns with arm-waving, finger-pointing and an air of dismay.
Last season, Nutley and Penrith's Luke Priddis were the NRL's most penalised players, breaking the rules 25 times.
They were followed by Sharks pair Beattie and Bailey (21 penalties).
This year, Bailey and Stevens have already been penalised seven times.
Nutley, who on three occasions last week argued and gesticulated wildly with referee Archer, has sinned five times.
Four Sharks have been sent-off in their past 30 games Paul Gallen, David Peachey and Dale Newton in 2003 and Bird last Saturday night.
"Player behaviour on the park was something I brought up with the players in the off-season and that's why I'm so disappointed," said Raper.
"I've been drilling it into the guys all off-season and before each game but obviously the players aren't listening.
"They're the ones who were out on the field getting embarrassed by the (Souths) result, that's where they have to take responsibility and not blame anyone else.
"You don't have to be Einstein to work out there's a problem. The players are disappointed with themselves and I'll address them again because I want to make sure what happened last weekend never happens again."
NRL referees boss Robert Finch says the Sharks' problems are a hangover from last season, but admits Raper is desperate trying to rectify them.
Peachey says the buck must stop with the players.
"This ill-discipline has slowly crept into the club, I don't like it, and we've got to get rid of it because it's costing us games," says Peachey, who admits he has been among the club's chief agitators.
"Stuey has told us to take the ref out of the equation and we didn't do that the other night.
"It's something we have to learn to control. If we stay disciplined, we're a chance of winning games.
"As a side, we've put Stuart under too much pressure although the positive is there's a long way to go.
"But if we play and act like we did against Souths, it's going to be a long year."
