Match 2026 NRL Round 10 - South Sydney Rabbitohs vs Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. 5:30pm, Saturday 9 May @ Accor Stadium, Sydney

Match threads
Sharks NRL Prospects said:
I think PVL ball gets over-stated. Footy games are still won by going forward and generating quick play the balls, and big guys are best at doing that. You want to avoid your big men getting bogged down defending for long stretches, but having McInnes back means you can still have those big guys and just shave a few minutes of each of their shifts.

The other thing to consider is that in a game with 60-70 points scored your forwards are getting a lot of extra rest during bunker reviews, conversions and kick-offs. NRL.com has Kaufusi down as having played 15 minutes, but he was out there for 3 tries and 2 dropouts. PVL can tell us "ball in play is up" and "big men are getting fatigued" as often as he likes but I'd be shocked if Kaufusi played more than 7 minutes of actual footy on Sunday.

My perfect lineup? Sifa to left centre and drop Iro, just so I can hear the Fins Up boys have a meltdown :ROFLMAO:

Seriously though.... a few actual thoughts on the middles.

If PVL ball is about quick play the balls and repeat efforts in defence the players you want out there the most are AFB, McInnes, Colquhoun and Rudolf - because they are good at both those things.

Hazelton and Burns have a high defensive work rate but will get slow ptb's when the opposition is able to get numbers in tackles.
Conversely... Kaufusi, Uele and Talakai can win the ruck consistently but don't give you the defensive work rate of the others.

I think with "PVL ball" you still need a balance. You also want guys who complement each other and you don't want too much of one thing on at the same time.

I think there is a case for starting to use the bench on a case by case basis (which may already be happening).

Colquhoun on after 20-25. Depending on what they think they need at that time they can send him out with 2 workers like they did on Sunday (Burns and Hazelton) or they can send out one of those two and someone to win the ruck (Talakai or Kaufusi).

You then hold that last "Roycey" sub for whatever it is you think you need from that stint. It doesn't have to be a redlining middle. It could be Puru if chasing points, or Burns/Tommy if the opposition have had a run of possession. It appears this happened at least once already. The only game this season where the Sharks were down by more than 8 points with 30 minutes to go they used Puru instead of Uele.

So for a lineup I'd go with the current starting pack plus Colquhoun as the core, and then players 15-19 get used according to the situation.

14. Colquhoun
15. Kaufusi
16. Hazelton
17 Talakai
18. Burns
19. Puru

They may not be 1 for 1 swaps every time but I'd look to do something like...

Rudolf and Colquhoun split time
McInnes splits time with one of Hazelton/Burns
AFB splits time with one of Kaufusi/Talakai/Hazelton/Burns (subject to needs)
4th benchie Kaufusi/Talakai/Hazelton/Burns/Puru comes on at 50-55 minute mark (subject to needs)
Keep a spare interchange until the last 10

This is actually in line with what happened on Sunday too (the bold ones), though obviously Talakai wasn't an option there (it was Jones).
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Cheers. So not too much change there. I guess the blessing of Sifa back to the bench is you don't need to carry an outside back and you can carry those 6 forwards an use them as the situation arises as you've said.

It's hard to get a read on that Penrith game, as Wilton and McInnes were unavailable. I think theres enough evidence to say that Puru has jumped BHU or close too, but I'm not confident Fitz would throw him on ahead of Tommy/Kaufusi. I hope he would though as the way you've described it makes sense.
 
Ramien still not back, I ws hoping we could move Talakai back to the bench with Ramien starting at centre against Mitchell.
 
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I don't mind Sifa up against Latrell.

Latrell wouldn't strip him for pace like other centres. Latrell is more power these days.

Sifa would just need to watch out for those long-armed palm offs. With his shorter reach he'd need to think like an infighter.
 
Last weeks tactic but bomb it above Kosi all day

I’d like to try put a lot of contact on Ward too but he’ll have a good bodyguard
 
Patience of the Grasshopper, and we gettem with our bench, hitting the front midway through 2nd half, in a grind, 14 Sharks -12 Wabbits.
 
This is a game where I'd love to start Kaufusi to shutdown their forwards, then bring n Toby when they are tired and the middle is weaker
 
stormshark said:
Patience of the Grasshopper, and we gettem with our bench, hitting the front midway through 2nd half, in a grind, 14 Sharks -12 Wabbits.
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Not sure 14 – 12 score lines exist anymore, but we have to get more than 2 in front of Souths or we risk heartbreak when Trell nonchalantly taps over a 40 m field goal.
 
Vichyssoise said:
I'd have to rewatch the game to understand why Nikora is inside Nicho on the play. The highlights start from the ptb right before the Luai pass.
Not an egregious misread like for the first try, a simple missed tackle (and Nikora shares the blame). Clearly beaten by the speed of the runner, because he actually anticipates the play well.
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I can save you the time, the second rower is meant to be inside the half in defence
 
Proud Shark said:
Cheers. So not too much change there. I guess the blessing of Sifa back to the bench is you don't need to carry an outside back and you can carry those 6 forwards an use them as the situation arises as you've said.

It's hard to get a read on that Penrith game, as Wilton and McInnes were unavailable. I think theres enough evidence to say that Puru has jumped BHU or close too, but I'm not confident Fitz would throw him on ahead of Tommy/Kaufusi. I hope he would though as the way you've described it makes sense.
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Yeah close. Situational though.

I reckon if they lost two "props" to injury Uele would come in. Possibly even as a starter, but playing less minutes than the benchies. There were games where Royce Hunt started, played the first 20 and then not again.

This is also why I think it's unlikely he starts with Colquhoun at prop. Fitz always plays two genuine "props" for the first 20 unless he has been painted into a corner. If you think of the lighter/mobile forwards (McInnes, Colquhoun, Williams, Talakai, Tolman etc.) he's started a game with two of those guys less than 5 times in his time at coach and it was always injury forced.
 
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Sharks NRL Prospects said:
Yeah close. Situational though.

I reckon if they lost two "props" to injury Uele would come in. Possibly even as a starter, but playing less minutes than the benchies. There were games where Royce Hunt started, played the first 20 and then not again.

This is also why I think it's unlikely he starts with Colquhoun at prop. Fitz always plays two genuine "props" for the first 20 unless he has been painted into a corner. If you think of the lighter/mobile forwards (McInnes, Colquhoun, Williams, Talakai, Tolman etc.) he's started a game with two of those guys less than 5 times in his time at coach and it was always injury forced.
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It's interesting that Fitz chose not to throw one of the extended bench on the other day when we were well ahead, instead he chose Kaufusi.

If ever there was an opportunity that was it.

Then again, we have been known to drop off in games in the past so throwing someone in just for token minutes may have out some complacency in the team.

As it was, Kaufusi to his credit raised the intensity when he came on which was really good to see
 
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