Warriors not taking struggling Sharks lightly
Warriors not taking struggling Sharks lightlyRugby League Live, AustraliaNew Zealand Warriors coach Ivan Cleary says the dramas surrounding
NRL cellar-dwellers
Cronulla have had no impact on his preparations for Sunday's match at Toyota Park. The Sharks go into the game with a new captain, with Trent Barrett to lead out the
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Source: http://www.rugbyleaguelive.com.au/Articles/5371/2009/06/06/Warriors_not_taking_struggling_Sharks_lightly.aspx
Warriors not taking struggling Sharks lightly
AAP
06/06/09
New Zealand Warriors coach Ivan Cleary says the dramas surrounding NRL cellar-dwellers Cronulla have had no impact on his preparations for Sunday's match at Toyota Park.
The Sharks go into the game with a new captain, with Trent Barrett to lead out the side after Paul Gallen relinquished the role earlier this week.
Gallen's decision came after he made a public apology for a racist comment directed at St George Illawarra forward Mickey Paea last month.
The move capped a horror month for the Sharks, who are heavily in debt and were rocked by revelations of a group sex scandal in New Zealand in 2002 and off-season recruit Reni Maitua testing positive for a banned substance.
But Cleary, who signed a two-year contract extension during the week, says Sunday's game will be just as tough as any other in the NRL.
"It's been the last thing I've been thinking of," he said.
"It's just another NRL team and they're all tough in their own way."
Cleary believes the Sharks will be boosted by their victory last weekend over Parramatta, a result which snapped a run of nine successive defeats.
But the Warriors had their own lift last week, defeating the Tigers 14-0 on a wet and cold night in Auckland.
That win came at just the right time for Cleary's side, after a run of just one victory from their previous eight outings.
Giant winger Manu Vatuvei agreed the win had been just the tonic for the Warriors, who have had a disappointing first half of the season.
"We needed it, we were pretty down the past few weeks," Vatuvei said.
"We just needed a win to get our confidence back up because it was kind of dropping all the time."
Cleary has made two changes from the team which beat the Tigers for the Sharks clash, welcoming back skipper Steve Price from Queensland State of Origin duty and bringing in Aidan Kirk at centre for the injured Patrick Ah Van.
The Sharks, boasting one of the most inexperienced backlines in the club's history, have named Gallen after the tough backrower missed Wednesday's Origin opener in Melbourne for the Blues due to a shoulder injury.
It's just another NRL team and they're all tough in their own way. Warriors coach Ivan Cleary
