Teams Cronulla Sharks 2020

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Josh Morris is 33 and I didn't think he was outstanding last season but he did score 15 tries in 23 games so he is worth fighting for.

I agree about the Chooks. they seem to be able to sign players left, right and centre and no one in the NRL questions their cap.

NRL contracts are not worth the paper they are written on these days.
 
Despite assurances no Sydney club would be relocated, the NRL is keeping a keen eye on the Sharks as they stumble towards a new season with no chief executive, no licensed club, a borrowed home ground and problems in the playing ranks.

Unfortunately for Cronulla, senior figures at Rugby League Central have long believed the Sharks are more at risk of folding than any other club. It would be a godsend for the NRL as it could replace the Shire club with a second Brisbane team, which would substantially boost the value of the game’s broadcast rights. It could also stage a game at Suncorp Stadium every weekend, leading to a significant increase in attendances and television ratings.

On January 7, Richard Munro became the fifth CEO to depart the Sharks in seven years. He followed Bruno Cullen, Steve Noyce, Lyall Gorman and Barry Russell, who have all come and gone since 2013.

Cronulla fans made it clear on social media they believe the problem lies with the board. There is talk of a clean-out at the upcoming elections.
The problem for the Sharks is they are running out of time. They have closed their licensed club for 18 months while they redevelop the leagues club and have taken the unusual and expensive step of spending millions buying a golf club, which still isn’t open to fans.

The Sharks have opted to play the next two seasons at Kogarah while the renovations are completed, which will undoubtedly lead to lower attendances and revenue. On the field, the Sharks are facing an uphill battle this year after losing a host of talent and experience, including Paul Gallen, Matt Prior, Jayden Brailey and Kyle Flanagan, among others. They are struggling with their salary cap to the point where there has been talk of offloading leading players.

It all shapes as a perfect storm for a club that has traditionally struggled. The difference this time is the NRL, despite its denials, will grasp any opportunity to take the franchise north.
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www.smh.com.au

NRL bombshell: meet special agent Phil Gould

It’s a shock move from one of the most influential men in the sport, but Phil Gould has thought long and hard about it and will try to get accredited in the next player agent intake in April.
www.smh.com.au www.smh.com.au
 
Bomberboyokay said:
www.smh.com.au

NRL bombshell: meet special agent Phil Gould

It’s a shock move from one of the most influential men in the sport, but Phil Gould has thought long and hard about it and will try to get accredited in the next player agent intake in April.
www.smh.com.au www.smh.com.au
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Yep, despite the fact that Easts, Souths and Canterbury have traditional home grounds and support bases within spitting distance of each other. You can walk from Redfern to what was the SFS for heaven's sake. Like all sport I guess it comes down to the mighty broadcast dollar. A second team in Brisbane makes some sense though. Relocate the Titans :p
 

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You're really pushing it when you name Gallen, Prior, Flanagan and Brailey as major losses that put us in a relocation gun.

Gallen is 38, Prior is 32. Brailey left because we preferred his brother at hooker long term. Flanagan is a loss and we'll have to own that because we went for a quick fix with Johnson.

When our renos have finished, we should be in a good place.
 
Aussie_boy said:
The Sharks are just a weird club. One minute it's owning a whole heap of land and we're on the verge of sustained greatness and the next minute we're moving to Perth or Brisbane.
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Yeah, two years ago we had this multi million dollar development on the go now we are on the bones of our arse.

That said we have done much better than the Gold Coast Titans over the past decade. The Gold Coast has to be the most overrated, over funded zone in Australian sport. Both the Titans and the Suns are absolute basket cases and if the NRL want a second side in Brisbane, Capital Power has it right, relocating the Titans to Brisbane makes more sense than moving the Sharks to another State.
 
The Old Dark Navy's said:
Josh Morris still wants out because he learned about the knockback through the media.

Personally, he just wants to play with his brother at the reigning premiers. If we had depth, I'd let him go. As it stands, too bad.

Try next year when you are 34.

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Josh Morris was playing with his brother at the Bulldogs two years back and before that he and Brett were both at St George. I reckon the two spent the best part of a dozen seasons playing together so why the sudden need for a reunion? It sounds like a piss weak reason to me.

It is more likely the Roosters are looking for a centre to replace Latrell Mitchell and the injured Billy Smith and have their eyes on Morris as a stop gap. They have obviously offered Morris more than we can or are prepared to pay so Josh is looking to go.

I agree, **** the cap rorting Roosters, Josh Morris is under contract to us and free to move next year when he is 34 and when it is likely that Smith will have recovered and the Roosters will have suddenly lost interest in Jmoz.
 
eddiesmith said:
If they are so desperate to play together I’m sure we could find room for Brett at Cronulla, swap for Dugan?
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I would be giving Katoa and Mulitalo games at wing over Brett Morris.

Brett is currently the better player, but has about 1-2 years left, whereas Katoa and Ronaldo have their whole careers ahead of them.

Let's not give Sione or Ronaldo any ideas about leaving by bringing in an older short term fix to fill their role. We already did the exact same thing to lose Kyle Flanagan by signing Johnson.
My back line for game one would be

1. Kennedy
2. J.Morris
3. Xerri
4. Ramien
5. Mulitalo
And hope that Katoa pushes J-Moz out at some point and Moylan can come back in to fullback
 
If Moylan is fit he has to be somewhere in the back line.

Dugan looks very doubtful so I think the backline will be

1. Moylan
2. Morris
3. Xerri
4. Ramien
5. Mulitalo

Xerri is rated a better than 50/50 chance to return after surgery so there are a few spots up for grabs.
 
Saw an article which is still pushing the Morris to Roosters as a foregone conclusion, claiming the Sharks can't afford to keep him. Are Sydney media just working for the Roosters? With our injuries there is no way I'd let an experienced player who played most games last year go, even when some of our players get fit, someone else will break down and Moylan is just as likely to miss as play each week!
 
eddiesmith said:
Saw an article which is still pushing the Morris to Roosters as a foregone conclusion, claiming the Sharks can't afford to keep him. Are Sydney media just working for the Roosters? With our injuries there is no way I'd let an experienced player who played most games last year go, even when some of our players get fit, someone else will break down and Moylan is just as likely to miss as play each week!
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We must have budgeted for Morris in our restricted cap and we have not really had any huge signings this year. Then again our finances are up and down like a yo yo so not being able to afford players is always on the cards..
 

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eddiesmith said:
Saw an article which is still pushing the Morris to Roosters as a foregone conclusion, claiming the Sharks can't afford to keep him. Are Sydney media just working for the Roosters? With our injuries there is no way I'd let an experienced player who played most games last year go, even when some of our players get fit, someone else will break down and Moylan is just as likely to miss as play each week!
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Yeah somehow we're the bad guys for not letting a senior contracted player walk. You can't help thinking that if it was us trying to attract the other brother, all hell would break loose. There's definitely an Easts, Melbourne and Brisbane agenda at NRL House.
 
Capital Power said:
Yeah somehow we're the bad guys for not letting a senior contracted player walk. You can't help thinking that if it was us trying to attract the other brother, all hell would break loose. There's definitely an Easts, Melbourne and Brisbane agenda at NRL House.
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I don't know if we are the villains purely because of the contracted player angle, i mean the Titans arent getting slammed for holding onto Jai Arrow.

I think it's more to do with the romanticism that is associated with the Morris brothers. Most rugby league fans have a soft spot for them and they have come to the end of their careers and want to reunite. Plus when everyone knows we have to let go of someone anyway we don't have a lot of leeway.
 
TheGrizz said:
I don't know if we are the villains purely because of the contracted player angle, i mean the Titans arent getting slammed for holding onto Jai Arrow.

I think it's more to do with the romanticism that is associated with the Morris brothers. Most rugby league fans have a soft spot for them and they have come to the end of their careers and want to reunite. Plus when everyone knows we have to let go of someone anyway we don't have a lot of leeway.
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Seems inevitable. I think 2020 is basically a holding pattern year anyway, enough time to let coach Morris get his feet under the table and get over our cap penalty. After 2016 I'm not as bothered about this as I probably should be ;).
 
Capital Power said:
Seems inevitable. I think 2020 is basically a holding pattern year anyway, enough time to let coach Morris get his feet under the table and get over our cap penalty. After 2016 I'm not as bothered about this as I probably should be ;).
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2016 was good but I want more! Sadly the Sharks have been back to normal the last few seasons, plenty of potential going to waste. Sadly I can't even see us being competitive against the top teams, but who know we may beat Manly as a trade off :D. Rough couple of years coming up at Kogarah, and I've noticed Foxsports are already on the clubs back.
 
Aussie_boy said:
2016 was good but I want more! Sadly the Sharks have been back to normal the last few seasons, plenty of potential going to waste. Sadly I can't even see us being competitive against the top teams, but who know we may beat Manly as a trade off :D. Rough couple of years coming up at Kogarah, and I've noticed Foxsports are already on the clubs back.
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My first Sharks game was a loss to Manly (by a point, at home, on the siren :p). I still remember it clearly despite it more than 40 years ago. I suspect this pattern isn't going to get much better in my lifetime ;).
 
Capital Power said:
My first Sharks game was a loss to Manly (by a point, at home, on the siren :p). I still remember it clearly despite it more than 40 years ago. I suspect this pattern isn't going to get much better in my lifetime ;).
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My first Sharks game we thumped the Storm at the old Olympic Park. We had a good record at the graveyard.
 
On Tuesday the 10th the CEO had this to say,

'Cronulla CEO Dino Mezzatesta said talks with the Roosters would continue but there was no agreement to release Morris after the match against the Rabbitohs or at any other time, while the Sharks have not spoken with Roosters forward Poasa Faamausili about joining the club.'

The article above goes on to state that Poasa Faamausili is only a twelve month deal. In any case we are supposedly going to release a try scoring back for a forward while we have Dugan, Moylan and Xerri in doubt with injury and that just does not make sense.
 
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