Sharks 'growing up' but growing impatient for finals success

Seven seasons have passed since Andrew Fifita’s grand final try for the ages brought the Sharks’ painful 50-year wait for a premiership to an end.

In six of those seven campaigns, the men from the Sutherland Shire have been part of the finals action, but a return to the big dance has eluded them.

Their heartbreaking 13-12 loss to the Roosters at PointsBet Stadium marked a sixth consecutive finals defeat for the Sharks, with their last September success coming back in 2018 against the Panthers.

After bowing out in straight sets to the Cowboys and Rabbitohs last year, and now to the Roosters in a pulsating sudden-death showdown, Craig Fitzgibbon's men are left to ponder another opportunity gone begging to go deep into the play-offs.

If you’re a glass half full kind of person then 2023 was another successful year for a club that was never out of the top eight from Round 7 onwards and took down the Rabbitohs, Cowboys and Raiders as part of an impressive late season rally.

If you’re more of a glass half empty type, then the fact that only the Raiders had a worse defensive record of the top-eight sides will sting all summer.

So, too, will a 0-5 record against fellow contenders the Panthers, Broncos, Warriors and Storm, with a 54-10 loss to Melbourne at AAMI Park in Round 15 perhaps the low point of the season.

Reflecting the rollercoaster nature of their season the Sharks rebounded from that nine-try drubbing to pile on 136 points of their own against the Bulldogs, Dragons and Wests Tigers in the ensuing three weeks.

Three straight losses to the Warriors, Sea Eagles and Panthers followed before they won four of their last five to wind up in sixth spot, pitting them against the club coach Fitzgibbon represented 228 times with distinction as a player, including a premiership in 2002.

With their season on the line both clubs threw everything into the battle, but in the end it was Sam Walker, the nephew of Fitzgibbon’s former Roosters teammate Chris Walker, who held his nerve to deliver the knockout blow in the 73rd minute.

“It’s fine margins, some moments, some decisions, but from where we were at the mid-point of the season, I’m proud of how we’ve ended up,” Fitzgibbon said post-match.

“I think we are starting to grow up as a footy team and things that everyone has been happy to criticise us about, I think we’re starting to address those.

“The boys are deflated because it was a cracking game for the most part. Two good defensive performances I thought. At the end of the day you could say a kick deflection try was what broke it open and that really hurts.”

Having announced his retirement in August, the loss signalled the end of the road for Wade Graham after 255 games in Sharks colours and 297 overall in a stellar 16-year career that started as a teenager at Penrith.

The last remaining link to the club’s 2016 premiership team, Graham had hoped his farewell tour could continue for another week but he was proud of the season the Sharks put together.

“I thought we were building at the back end of the season. We went through some adversity and put ourselves in decent shape,” Graham said.

“I feel for the team mostly that the chapter is finished. I’ve been through ups and downs throughout my career and I know I’ll get over it but I feel for the team.

“I would have liked to go a bit longer, not for myself but for the team in there…they’re Just starting to grow up in there and realise what it takes to be a hard-edged footy team.

“As much as it’s disappointing right now, the core group will get a lot out of that game.”

With big guns Nicho Hynes, Will Kennedy, Briton Nikora, Jesse Ramien, Blayke Brailey, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Siosifa Talakai and Sione Katoa all on board for at least the next two seasons, that 'core group' will get their chance to make amends for the disappointment of 2022 and 2023.

Scoring points won't be an issue with Hynes (28 try assists, 33 line break assists) calling the shots and setting up tryscoring machines Mulitalo and Kennedy, who bagged 35 four-pointers between them this season.

Although their defence stood tall against the Roosters, it's the area of the game that will occupy much of Fitzgibbon's off-season planning after they conceded 20 points per game in 2023 compared to 15 last year.

"In patches we were really good this season but we were very inconsistent. We let ourselves down," Hynes reflected. 

"We have to take a good hard look at ourselves and fix our defence up. It just wasn't good enough this year.

"We're building, next year we're going to be another year together and more experience, more connection so we'll have a good hard review and look what we did well, what we did wrong, and try and fix that in the pre-season."

The prize cabinet at Shark Park still holds just the one premiership trophy but with Hynes around to steer the ship until 2029, there's plenty of cause for optimism in the Shire once the pain fades and the hard work begins again.