10 Home Truths We have to Discuss

[DANGA HATCH]

Boys I might get bagged and bashed from pillar to post for this but I’ve been a passionate lifetime supporter of the Sharks (35 years ) and I don’t live in the shire. I’m entitled to a say so it’s time to open a can of whoop ass and raise a few home truths. It is open for your criticism or comment.

1) The Sutherland Shire is a beautiful place that many Sydneysiders want to move to. All of these people have their own allegiances and with our on field performances in recent times we are not getting them to support their ‘local team’. Funny you might think because I live in the West Tigers heartland but my very young son and I are members of the Sharks because my dad was a Sharks Junior before they became the sharks in 1967. Soon I will take my boy and baby girl to their first games in their Gal’s Pals beanies. If somebody moves to the shire and follows the Dragqueens I’m sure that they would do the same. It has to start with you guys that live in the Shire though! How can you get the locals interested in supporting the Sharks other than by winning games?

2) The sharks unfortunately have not produced an outstanding local junior since ET. I realize that our NYC, Flegg and SG ball teams have are going ok but who is really ready to be a Shark because that is who they want to play for? I named myself after one of the greatest Sharks (Dave Hatch) he was a junior and for me typified what it means to be a shark. Gallen is the closest to Hatch but he is not a local junior. ( I can’t believe he has stuck with us!!!)

3) We don’t seem to be able to retain anyone decent. I am gutted by the loss of Luke Douglas for next season and the threat to Kade Snowden. These two guys really needed to be the cornerstone of the sSharks for the next decade.

4) Our season after a promising beginning is now on the downward spiral. A Kelly (broken leg ) and Nathan Gardner (ankle) with 4 losses in a row, who do we look towards?

5) Saturday’s loss, whilst unlucky with the loss of our two playmakers is just not good enough. It highlights how little we have and in front of home fans. Our forward pack contains 4 Internationals (Aiton is questionable though!) and two rising stars in Snowden and Douglas. Our backline barring Kelly and Gardner is pedestrian to say the least.

6) A little over 7000 fans to a Saturday night game. The NRL are killing us but we aren’t getting there either.

7) The Cowboys were last years’ ‘unofficial’ wooden spooners. Yet they have recruited some good heads . We recruited Jeremy Smith and John Williams who seem to be good buys. I’ve heard good wraps on Kose Lelei why isn’t he being given a shot? He sound like an impact player.

8) Two hooker rotation is rubbish! Cam Smith is testament to that fact. Having a hooker on the bench is a waste of a time. Either Aiton steps up or we try someone else.

9) We have to sign a big name for 2012 soon or they will all be gone.

10) The team has to change and we have to have more impact off the bench.

So guys there are my 10 home truths. Open for comment. Sorry about the length of it. I just want to see us compete and be in the comp beyond this year. GO YOU SHARKS !!!!!!

 

[country_shark]

Good post Hatchy.
I'm also a "35 year man" but not from the Shire (I live in Orange).
I was so pumped this year - travelled down on the fan day to collect my membership pack and after meeting and chating with most of the players and Flanno I drove home with great confidence.
Four losses in a row and I cant help feeling "here we go again". How the ehlll does this ever turn around??

 

[hitman124]

If you don`t have any socks, you cant pull them up.

Its all good to say Aiton needs to step up or get out, but who have we got to step in?

 

[ben]

8) Two hooker rotation is rubbish! Cam Smith is testament to that fact. Having a hooker on the bench is a waste of a time. Either Aiton steps up or we try someone else.

I agree, Morris has made himself indispensable (like a half), can we please re-sign him after Kelly, Kade.

 

[DeathMoth]

Morris has often been bagged but I've always had a soft spot for him. He's nothing overly special but he plays a solid game most games and controls the ruck well in attack. His kicks aren't half bad and it definitely doesn't hurt to have three (well, technically two seeing as though Graham is as useless as tits on a fish) blokes to take control on the last tackle.

 

[SF]

1) The Sutherland Shire is a beautiful place that many Sydneysiders want to move to. All of these people have their own allegiances and with our on field performances in recent times we are not getting them to support their ‘local team’. Funny you might think because I live in the West Tigers heartland but my very young son and I are members of the Sharks because my dad was a Sharks Junior before they became the sharks in 1967. Soon I will take my boy and baby girl to their first games in their Gal’s Pals beanies. If somebody moves to the shire and follows the Dragqueens I’m sure that they would do the same. It has to start with you guys that live in the Shire though! How can you get the locals interested in supporting the Sharks other than by winning games?

That's a lot of topics! I think there are a lot of other threads where this is discussed.

2) The sharks unfortunately have not produced an outstanding local junior since ET. I realize that our NYC, Flegg and SG ball teams have are going ok but who is really ready to be a Shark because that is who they want to play for? I named myself after one of the greatest Sharks (Dave Hatch) he was a junior and for me typified what it means to be a shark. Gallen is the closest to Hatch but he is not a local junior. ( I can’t believe he has stuck with us!!!)

Well hopefully this year we could see 4: Townsend, Mills, Peachey and Pickerd. And Frizzel is close enough - Woonoona, plus developed by us.

3) We don’t seem to be able to retain anyone decent. I am gutted by the loss of Luke Douglas for next season and the threat to Kade Snowden. These two guys really needed to be the cornerstone of the sSharks for the next decade.

Gardner, Gallen, hopefully AK.

5) Saturday’s loss, whilst unlucky with the loss of our two playmakers is just not good enough. It highlights how little we have and in front of home fans. Our forward pack contains 4 Internationals (Aiton is questionable though!) and two rising stars in Snowden and Douglas. Our backline barring Kelly and Gardner is pedestrian to say the least.

I said after last week it was time for the shake-up. It's sort of been forced now anyway.

6) A little over 7000 fans to a Saturday night game. The NRL are killing us but we aren’t getting there either.

Shocking day for it. Half of Sydney out of town, the other half at the Easter Show. My feeling is Shire people get into the Easter holidays more than most people in Sydney, just head down the South Coast and see... and on a 5-day weekend.

7) The Cowboys were last years’ ‘unofficial’ wooden spooners. Yet they have recruited some good heads . We recruited Jeremy Smith and John Williams who seem to be good buys. I’ve heard good wraps on Kose Lelei why isn’t he being given a shot? He sound like an impact player.

Our centres haven't been attacking machines but have not let us down at all this year.

8) Two hooker rotation is rubbish! Cam Smith is testament to that fact. Having a hooker on the bench is a waste of a time. Either Aiton steps up or we try someone else.

Agree 1000%. I doubt any hooker would ever want to be replaced.

 

[squiddy]

Agree 1000%. I doubt any hooker would ever want to be replaced.

It works if you have someone effective to bring on

But bringing Stuart Flanagan , much as I rate him , on gives us nothing

 

[DANGA HATCH]

Shocking day for it. Half of Sydney out of town, the other half at the Easter Show. My feeling is Shire people get into the Easter holidays more than most people in Sydney, just head down the South Coast and see... and on a 5-day weekend.

I agree with this as I saw the traffic heading south on Friday and I do believe many are shire people who get down there during Easter. I suppose my point is related to point 1. How many shire people even care about the sharks? It all has to start in the local area, if you can't attract locals to support the team then we die. I work in a school in south west Sydney, there are up to 400 students in the school not one is sharks supporter! I am the only one bravely flying the flag and copping crap from everyone. I want my kids to be sharks supporters but if they have to cop the same crap I guarantee you that they won't be sharks supporters for too long. Locals have to want and support their local team.

It works if you have someone effective to bring on

But bringing Stuart Flanagan , much as I rate him , on gives us nothing

Good point.

Love the Steve Kneen footy card 1979??? You must be my vintage. He was a hard man although different in statue reminds me a lot of Paul Gallen and the mongrel it takes to win the games.

 

[fitz]

hahaha...

I'm from the Shire... and I'm away down the Coast for Easter (as I do every year) ... and believe it or not, I do care about the Sharks.

Funny thing: On Saturday, I was at the Tilba festival. I was wearing a Sharks polo. I noticed about 6 other people who were wearing Sharks merch which was more in number than any other NRL side. I copped quite a lot of "Go the Sharkies" throughout the day. The most extraordinary thing I saw though was one guy walking around with a 1980s De La jersey on! Obviously I had to go up and say g'day.

If we as a Club are aware of the curious migratory habits of us hobbits then perhaps we should factor that sort of thing in to our strategic planning. I'm sure with a bit of imagination and creative thinking this sort of thing could be turned around to work to the Club's advantage.

 

[Gil]

Just adding a little bit.

I was at the Show yesterday saw about 10 -15 sharks jersey's, polo's and T shirts.
There was other teams on display but ours stood out more. I had a few comments on how unlucky we were.

 

[shrek69]

We will struggle to win another game this season without a strike weapon like Gardner. It is bringing back all too familiar memories of when Kearney kept getting injured for us a couple of years back. We need to have someone at fullback who is unpredictable. Who have we got who could fill that roll?????

 

[Mark^Bastard]

I'd be happy for Morris as maybe 80 minutes with Peachey on the bench.

 

[Gards]

Not all Sharks fans are from the Shire, I personally know stacks of fans who have no affiliation at all with Crounlla or the Shire BUT they love the team and that doesn't make them any less a worthy supporter or fan.

As well I see Sharks jerseys all over Sydney in random places and I'm pretty sure these arn't all people taking a venture out of the shire. Often get or give the up the Sharkies. There is appreciaton for this as we know how much **** we get from general public. So it's like our own secret handshake. People like the Sharks more than they admit, just closet fans who don't want to get slammed by others.

You think it's hard to get locals to games if the game-day setup or team peformance is poor think of those who have to drive more than an hour to get there. They will need some encouragement to keep that up I think as well.

Agree that the local shire community needs to be re-engaged as a priority but don't forgot about the sharks fan base abroad who want this club to do well as much as the locals!

Local juniours probably less important to us outsiders but if they karve it up then so be it!

 

[Mr Wright]

I'd be happy for Morris as maybe 80 minutes with Peachey on the bench.

My exact thoughts. Peachey would play a role similar to what Ben Barba did for the Bulldogs last year.

 

[Gil]

Not all Sharks fans are from the Shire, I personally know stacks of fans who have no affiliation at all with Crounlla or the Shire BUT they love the team and that doesn't make them any less a worthy supporter or fan.

As well I see Sharks jerseys all over Sydney in random places and I'm pretty sure these arn't all people taking a venture out of the shire. Often get or give the up the Sharkies. There is appreciation for this as we know how much **** we get from general public. So it's like our own secret handshake. People like the Sharks more than they admit, just closet fans who don't want to get slammed by others.

You think it's hard to get locals to games if the game-day setup or team performance is poor think of those who have to drive more than an hour to get there. They will need some encouragement to keep that up I think as well.

Agree that the local shire community needs to be re-engaged as a priority but don't forgot about the sharks fan base abroad who want this club to do well as much as the locals!

Local juniors probably less important to us outsiders but if they karve it up then so be it!

Nice post Gards. :good:

Can I add my thoughts.

Yes we are the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks, but the game/support has grown outside of the Shire. Yes it is a Shire based club but in order to survive you must generate support from all corners of the state/country.

I would imagine that some people get put off by the saying "our Shire our Sharks" we just don't get enough local support to support this.

We have a great name and colours to suit, so to me it needs to be marketed more across the country.

Everywhere you go you see bunnies stuff, why can't we see the same for the Sharks.

These little things help make it happen, supporters turn up, players lift a gear, sponsors take notice and bang we have a great team.

It will happen again ( I Believe)

 

[gosharkies]

We will struggle to win another game this season without a strike weapon like Gardner. It is bringing back all too familiar memories of when Kearney kept getting injured for us a couple of years back. We need to have someone at fullback who is unpredictable. Who have we got who could fill that roll?????

i would not give up hope just yet, sure we have injuries to 2 key attacking weapons. but i think if we bring in porter for kelly. if nothing else porter has a very good long kicking game. graham moves to 5/8 where i think he can play his natural game. i think if porter can produce a good kicking options, i think our forward pack will be able to dominate enough to grind out few wins. we may not score as many tries without gardner & kelly . but that does not mean we cannot win without them.

 

[Jasonstevenswedgie]

well if the show is on why not a double header at anz with the other sydney team that is playing that day?????

 

[josh11223344]

Just adding a little bit.

I was at the Show yesterday saw about 10 -15 sharks jersey's, polo's and T shirts.
There was other teams on display but ours stood out more. I had a few comments on how unlucky we were.

sort of off topic but why are there no sharks or just general nrl teams showbags at the easter show? they would sell heaps of bags and would be great advertising for the teams

 

[squiddy]

hahaha...

I'm from the Shire... and I'm away down the Coast for Easter (as I do every year) ... and believe it or not, I do care about the Sharks.

Funny thing: On Saturday, I was at the Tilba festival. I was wearing a Sharks polo. I noticed about 6 other people who were wearing Sharks merch which was more in number than any other NRL side. I copped quite a lot of "Go the Sharkies" throughout the day. The most extraordinary thing I saw though was one guy walking around with a 1980s De La jersey on! Obviously I had to go up and say g'day.

If we as a Club are aware of the curious migratory habits of us hobbits then perhaps we should factor that sort of thing in to our strategic planning. I'm sure with a bit of imagination and creative thinking this sort of thing could be turned around to work to the Club's advantage.

You know Fitz brings up a great point about the migratory habits of Sharks fans.

I know lots , as I'm sure you all do , of fans who grew up in the Shire but then can't afford to buy or live in the Shire . The Campbelltown area is riddled with Sharks fans , I've watched a Lot of junior league out there and there are always parents and kids with Sharks merch on . Lots of Sharks fans up the Goldy too , when I was up there for the Quiksilver pro - several guys wearing Sharks stuff walking around including one of the Shires most famous sons and Shark tragic - Occy .

How do we tap into these guys ?

 

[Lumpy]

The sharks are at their best when they have local juniors in the team. Our football teams are always good when we have a heap of local juniors in them. We are not a rich team and because we have not won a comp we struggle to attrack big name players. We need to win games of football to get bums on seats. Fair weather fans only follow winners and the shire has lots of fair weather fans.

We are rebuilding since Anderson and our current NYC team had 10 local juniors playing against the Cowboys on Saturday. Our SG ball team made the semis this year and finished top of the table at the end of the regular season last year. Juniors are the key we need local kids wanting to play for the Sharks. Once this happens we will be a strength once again. Flanno knows this as did Sticky before him.

We are on the way up we just need to get a few things right and we will be back up there.

Great post Danga. You will never get bagged for posting something fair and open like this one.