A bleed apart: Why even 300 stitches can’t stop Cronulla’s hard man
Cronulla warhorse Cameron McInnes reckons he may have cracked 300. Stitches, that is, in both eyebrows over the years.
“Maybe more,” he says. “I couldn’t throw a number out there. It goes back to my SG Ball days. I’ve split both eyebrows at least 50 times.
“It’s like boxers when they split, they continue to split. When it comes to my eyebrows, it doesn’t take much for them to start to bleed.”
McInnes had blood pouring down his face, was nursing a black eye and missing a tooth when he popped up on the TV last Sunday following the Sharks’ 40-0 thumping of Canberra. Fox Sports should have added a content warning.
During the post-match interview, Nathan Hindmarsh joked that McInnes looked so frightening, he resembled a “Chucky Doll”. It’s a constant theme for a man universally regarded as one of the toughest to lace on a boot.
He struggles to get through a training session without spilling some “claret”. The blood was all over the 30-year-old’s face again at Sharks training again during the week.
“There is not a day that goes by at training that Cam does not have blood on his face,” says recently retired Cronulla captain Dale Finucane, himself a genuine hard man of the game.
“He is always bleeding. It could be coming from his ears, his cheek or his eyebrows. He just brushes it off like it’s nothing. I watched him wrestle on Thursday, he had the stitches in from the weekend, and the boys said, ‘You’re bleeding’, so all he did was grab some ‘Vaso’, put it on and kept going like nothing had happened.”
There are so many stories about McInnes spilling blood for the cause, his remarkable toughness and dedication. But he’s not always on the receiving end.
Like the time
McInnes dislodged a screw in winger Ronnie Mulitalo’s jaw during a wrestling session. Mulitalo kept the screw as a keepsake – and a reminder.
Or when Craig Fitzgibbon was watching a wrestling drill on his first day as Sharks head coach and McInnes split open teammate Teig Wilton. “And it wasn’t even an intense drill; the boys were still warming up,” Fitzgibbon recalls.
Even Dragons head coach Shane Flanagan, whose side goes up against the Sharks on Sunday afternoon, laughed about McInnes needing to experience the full contact; otherwise he would walk off the training paddock feeling like he’s missed out.
“There were some training sessions where the contact level was meant to be at 50 per cent; he’d comply and go at 50 per cent, but then he’d walk off and hit the tackle bags at 100 per cent – he needed that full contact,” Flanagan says.
“He’s as tough as nails, he’s committed, and there’s only a matchstick difference between his best and worst game. He just trains and tries so hard. He’s very similar to ‘Gal’ [Paul Gallen] – they got everything out of their footy careers from working really, really hard.”
It’s an uncomplicated, and refreshing, approach in this day and age.
“For me, getting ready means giving my best [at training], and by doing that, I want to make sure my teammates are in the best condition to take the field as well — I’ll continue to try my best every day,” McInnes says.
The take-no-prisoners approach to the game is why McInnes is so respected by every coach he has worked under.
Fitzgibbon, Flanagan, former
Dragons coach Paul McGregor this week used words like “relentless”, “honest” and “someone who doesn’t take shit” to describe the former dummy-half who has made the Cronulla No.13 jersey his own since his switch from the Dragons in 2022.
Even Michael Maguire viewed McInnes as a future captain at Souths when the pair were at the club together from 2014 to 2016.
Which brings us to Origin and Maguire, and whether McInnes will finally realise his Blues dream. He has gone close a few times, but this could be his best chance yet.
Wests Tigers skipper Api Koroisau played hooker for the Blues last year, but is battling a back problem. Reece Robson came off the bench in games two and three, while Warriors No.9 Wayde Egan is also making a case for the dummy-half job.
Isaah Yeo has a mortgage on the NSW No.13 jersey, but with Cam Murray’s hip-flexor injury, McInnes can cover lock and dummy-half.
Maguire wants players who will bleed for the jersey. We all know McInnes is good for that.
McGregor said McInnes would be the ideal No.14 because of his ability to double as a dummy-half and ball-playing lock.
Fitzgibbon says: “I was an assistant [at the Blues] when he was close then. ‘Madge’ [Maguire] knows Cam wouldn’t let anyone down.”
Finucane adds: “The thing with Cam, he doesn’t ask anyone to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.
“I certainly think he deserves a spot. He’s one of the toughest players in comp, he has versatility and isn’t just a plodder. He handles the ball a lot for us in the middle and moves our ruck around. He’s not the biggest bloke in the middle. But he makes up for it with ticker.”
What about McInnes himself? Is he ready to be unleashed against Queensland? Or, are Queensland ready for him?
“It’s always been a goal of mine,” he says. “I’ve had my name mentioned a few times in the past, and I’ve probably been guilty where I’ve thought about it more than I need to.
“I was in that extended squad in January, which was a cool experience, and the 30 or so players that were there, they will all play an important role for this whole campaign. Whether I play or not, I’ll be cheering them on and doing my part by playing well for the Sharks.”
Cronulla are flying high on top of the ladder and would love a big win over their neighbours. McInnes’ experience is so important given Finucane’s medical retirement last week.
Flanagan played his part in convincing McInnes to join the Sharks. When he was an assistant at the Dragons, Flanagan had a few conversations with McInnes, who was unwanted at the Red V, and told him he would settle in well in the Shire.
“I’d love to have him in my team, that’s for sure,” Flanagan says. “It’s a few years since he’s left, but I still admire the way he plays, and I love watching him play and how he tries.”
