Round 1 2013: SHARKS vs TITANS

[mup23]

I reckon our team is walking into an ambush on Sunday evening. The crowd is going to be seething with anger, and the Sharks will look to take it out on their first opponent.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this one - I had been so confident up until this afternoon when the excrement hit the fan well and truly...

If we can get a good start then the Sharks' heads will drop. It'll be a convincing 20 point game either way

[TITAN PETE]

Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan stood down two days from first NRL game of the season

The Daily Telegraph March 08, 2013 4:55PM

. Source: Mark Evans / News Limited


Shane Flanagan has been stood down as coach of the Cronulla Sharks as the drug scandal widens, saying he's "shattered" and believes the players have done nothing wrong.


In a major cull of staff, Cronulla also sacked football general manager Darren Mooney, head trainer Mark Noakes, physiotherapist Konrad Schulz and long-serving medico, team doctor Dave Givney, who is also the NSW State of Origin team's medical officer.


?I?m shattered,? Flanagan said. ?None of us had any knowledge of what was happening.?

He added: "I've got to support the players here. I still believe that the players have not done anything wrong. I don't oversee anything. My involvement ... I've got no idea, bar being coach at the time.


"I've worked really hard to get this footy team together and I feel sorry for all the current players as well as the new players who have come to our club.

"Now they've just been ripped apart."

Assistant coach Peter Sharp will take control of the Sharks for Sunday's match against the Gold Coast Titans at Shark Park.

Sharks Deputy Chairman Keith Ward said a review of the 2011 season was taken by the club and showed management failures.

Ward said it was in the club's best interest to "stand down Shane Flanagan pending the full management review." Ward says the actions in "no way reflect anti-doping violations.

"The board wholeheartedly apologises for the events."



Three board members addressed the Sharks players at 5pm, informing them of the decision to stand down their coach and other staff.

Asked if ASADA had uncovered any positive blood or urine tests at the Sharks, Ward replied: ?As part of the routine drug testing of our players, which happens continually, through 2011 there were no positive blood or urine tests."

Ward said players who might be caught up in ASADA investigations would receive financial and legal support from the club.



He said the club had appointed former Brisbane Broncos CEO Bruno Cullen as interim CEO. However, a reporter tweeted that Cullen had yet to accept the role.

Flanagan was questioned by ASADA officials at Sharks Park on Thursday.

Fox Sports expert Mark Gasnier said he had sympathy for Flanagan.

"At the end of the day we're speculating what his involvement is. If he had involvement and knew players were taking performance-enhancing drugs and turning a blind eye or giving a tick of approval that's a different story.

"I think the ramifications have already been big enough with the impact on the reputation of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks."

After recruiting impressively during the off-season with the likes of Luke Lewis, Michael Gordon and Beau Ryan joining the club, the Sharks were seen as genuine premiership contenders, but their season now lies in tatters.

Flanagan was also played an integral role in bringing troubled star Todd Carney to the club.

Interim coach Sharp, formerly head coach of the Northern Eagles and Manly Sea Eagles, joined the Sharks as an assistant at the end of the 2011 season.

Earlier this week, senior players Paul Gallen, Ben Pomeroy and John Morris confronted ex-Cronulla head conditioner Trent Elkin wanting answers after they had been summoned to an extraordinary meeting where sports lawyer and ex-ASADA senior counsel Richard Redman had advised a group of 14 players to plead guilty and accept six-month suspensions.

Ward appeared Friday along with Dr Tricia Kavanagh former Justice of the Industrial Court and Deputy Chair of the Australian Sports Drug Agency.
Dr Kavanagh has been assisting the Sharks with an investigation and legal review of club activities during a period in 2011 that is the subject of the ASADA investigation.

Flanagan started his coaching career as Parramatta SG Ball coach in 1997 and after stints in the Roosters lower grades, he followed Stuart to the Sutherland Shire in 2007.

Flanagan took over from Ricky Stuart in late 2010 season after Stuart stood down.

[C-Whiz]

I reckon our team is walking into an ambush on Sunday evening. The crowd is going to be seething with anger, and the Sharks will look to take it out on their first opponent.

I hope I'm wrong but I'm beginning to get a bad feeling about this one - I had been so confident up until this afternoon when the excrement hit the fan well and truly...

I hear what you are saying, but to be honest, i think it has gone WAY beyond being angry about what has happened, and I would say they are probably more shell-shocked than anything. Half the coaching staff goooone 2 days before the season starts!

If you were a Sharks player/fan the last thing you are worried about is the result in round 1, right?

IMO they won't be thinking about winning game 1 just to make a statement, they will be wondering if they will be finishing the season. I expect some frustration and anger from the Sharks and Gallen to lead from the front as always, but after they settle, I don't expect a whole lot of structure.

If Titans stay to the game plan, throw it around and get out to a lead the Sharks will have no interest or desire chasing down a lead.

[Mr Stupid]

Are they transferring game to Skilled Park? Just read on twitter.

[DavidBouveng]

No I think there was a poor news report saying it was at GC and called Shane Flanagan Steve Flanagan.

[Jamal's Hamstring]

I am really on the fence with this one. I thought the sharks would go well this year but it is impossible to predict how all the bull**** will impact on the group. I agree it won't be close but I am unsure who takes it.

[DavidBouveng]

our scandal last year had a huge effect on us in hindsight. and our players didnt really have alot to do with it, it was all the club.

this is directly affecting their players emotionally and distracting them immensely, so i think they will be nothing like the team we would have faced without all this rubbish going on.

that being said, they will be unpredictable tomorrow and we need to be ready for anything.

[Mr Stupid]

Yep, it's all pretty unsettling. Lets hope the boys can maintain their rhythm

[Rage]

I don't think all that's happened will fire up the Sharks and inspire them to want to make a statement. Rather than firing the boys up, when everything was collapsing last year around the Titans, it had a detrimental effect as even mentioned by Bird in one of his interviews earlier this week. I expect a similar effect for the Sharks, but that might just be wishful thinking...

[Titanic]

I think we are over-stating the players depth of understanding. The players not involved will just be worried about the game ... they have jobs and need to be winning. The players who are targeted may be worried about the outcome of the investigation but they have a siege mentality and that means security to them. They will be at full strength and ready to play for their stood down coach.

[Toads]

I'm predicting that the Sharkies will come out hard the first 20-30 minutes. If we can hold em out defensively during then, we should be able to wear em down. With saying that though, we need to keep it on em for the entire 80 minutes and have no lapses in our own defense, to pull off this win.

[Rage]

Ben Horne AAP Sat, Mar 09, 2013 - 12:02 PM

Cronulla captain Paul Gallen says the Sharks will play for "the five people that are no longer here" in confirming a full-strength squad would take on Gold Coast in Sunday's NRL opening round encounter.

While a cloud still hangs over the Sharks players, with as many as 14 players believed to be weighing up whether to admit to taking banned substances and accepting a six-month ban, Gallen said all would take on the Titans at Sharks Stadium.

Gallen briefly spoke to the media after Saturday morning's training session, which was run by new interim coach Peter Sharp following Friday's stunning decision to stand down coach Shane Flanagan.

Flanagan was removed while while football manager Darren Mooney, trainer Mark Noakes, physiotherapist Konrad Schultz and doctor David Givney were all sacked for what the Sharks board described as "serious management failures" during sports scientist Stephen Dank's three-month term at the club in 2011.

The players on Friday night confronted the board demanding Flanagan's reinstatement, but the threat of a boycott of the Titans clash at Shark Park was dismissed.

"Not a lot was discussed," an ashen-faced Gallen said of Friday night's players meeting.

"We were told what happened to the five staff members who aren't with us at the moment and as a team we're sticking together.

"We're playing tomorrow and we're just going to get out there and do our best for the five people that are no longer here and ourselves.

"What's going on I'm sure you can all understand, is more than hard on everyone - we're sticking together, we're here tomorrow to play a game of footy, we're going to get out there tomorrow to do our best.

"We're looking forward to 80 minutes of concentrating on what we do best.

Asked if he was still allowed to be contact with Flanagan, Gallen said:

"Shane's a friend of mine, I can speak to whoever I want to."

The entire squad took part in Saturday's session minus Jayson Bukuya and Chad Townsend, who it seems have both been omitted from the extended squad named on Tuesday.

[DIEHARD]

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[Toads]

Hmm.. you might be onto something there, Diehard. After witnessing the intensity that the Cowboys played with tonight. I'm beginning to think we might be in a bit of strife this year.

Scratch that previous comment of mine in this thread.

[karnage]

That's awesome Diehard - exactly the message I was trying to convey!!

On the other hand, I don't know where people are getting the idea that this will be a lob sided match. If that's the case - go down your local TAB and back both teams 13+. I doubt very much wether you will collect on either ticket.

Believe me, Sharks fans and players are ANGRY. That won't necessarily translate into a win but they will be dishing it up both on the park and in the stands. A quick memo to the away fans who might be attending - keep any jokes about drug cheats to yourselves if you want to get out of there alive!!