Cronulla Sharks
What they did: Defended well at times but still have no idea what to do with the ball in hand. Coach Ricky Stuart resigned mid-season and Shane Flanagan took over. The club was well served by Paul Gallen, Luke Douglas, Kade Snowden and boom rookie Nathan Gardner but they simply could not do it all themselves. The Trent Barrett experiment finished as a glaring failure and mid-season pickup Tim Smith was ordinary.
What they can do: Play a forward-centric game that lets them compete until they have to score points. The offence has been so anaemic in recent seasons that the purchases of Wade Graham and Colin Best might not be enough to change things straight away. The forward pack was boosted with Jeremy Smith’s arrival and Anthony Tupou is capable of a lot more than he’s given Cronulla since arriving.
Three Key Performers: Gallen will continue to out-work anyone but that is sometimes counter-productive, Douglas is the most under-rated prop in the game and fullback Gardner must show that 2010 was not a flash in the pan.
Michael Ennis must give the Bulldogs better direction
Canterbury Bulldogs John Williams
What they will do: Improve on the attacking side of the footy. It’d be hard not to. Graham has talent and Best might add some try scoring ability out wide but it will once again be up to the forward pack to keep the Sharks in each game they play. Finals Footy is beyond Cronulla but remember they did reach a Preliminary Final in 2008 because of a rock hard defence.
Last Year: Finished 14th (W7-L17) IN: Wade Graham, Jeremy Smith, Colin Best, John Williams OUT: Trent Barrett, Blake Ferguson, Grant Millington, Adam Cuthbertson, Luke Covell, Kyle O’Donnell
Predicted First Choice Line-up: N Gardner, I Gordon, C Best, D Collis, J Williams, W Graham, T Smith, K Snowden, J Morris, L Douglas, J Smith, A Tupou, P Gallen (C). P Aiton, J Mannah, S Vave, B Pomeroy
REGULAR SEASON PREDICTION: 16th
What they did: Went from the penthouse to the doghouse in the space of an off-season as their attacking game plan got lost in translation as they changed coaches. What? Kevin Moore was coach in 2009 and 2010? Hard to believe if you watched the Bulldogs play in both seasons. Canterbury never looked like contending and a run of bad losses when having sizeable leads saw them slip into also-ran territory midway through the season.
What they can do: Buy quality players in an off-season. A few years ago they netted Michael Ennis, Brett Kimmorley and Greg Eastwood and for 2011 they grabbed Aiden Tolman, Trent Hodkinson, Frank Pritchard and… Greg Eastwood. The club still retained a lot of talent with Josh Morris, Bryson Goodwin, Jamal Idris, Ben Roberts and Ben Barba forming an exciting backline but the question will be whether or not Hodkinson is allowed to use them in 2011.
Three Key Performers: Ennis must improve his options given his influence from dummy half, Morris simply has to see the ball more often and Barba has an X-Factor that needs to be unleashed.
What they will do: Don’t let the new buys fool you into thinking this is a team that has to be on the rise. Canterbury played an introverted style that saw them fall out of the 2010 race without so much of a whimper and Moore must change this in order for the talented Bulldogs to challenge for a play off spot. Even with change, there’s no guarantee it’ll get them to September.
Last Year: Finished 13th (W9-L15) IN: Aiden Tolman, Trent Hodkinson, Frank Pritchard, Greg Eastwood, Kris Keating, Grant Millington, Jonathan Wright, Michael Lett OUT: Brett Kimmorley, Luke Patten, Ben Hannant, Ryan Tandy (Pending investigation), Daniel Harrison, Yileen Gordon, Jarrad Hickey, Blake Greem
Predicted First Choice Line-up: B Barba, S Turner, J Morris, J Idris, B Goodwin, B Roberts, T Hodkinson, A Tolman, M Ennis, M Hodgson, F Pritchard, A Ryan (C), D Stagg. G Eastwood, K Keating, C Armit, M Paea
REGULAR SEASON PREDICTION: 12th RUGBY LEAGUE WORLD - APRIL 2011 75
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