No doubt former Penrith flyer Michael Gordon, a player with the experience of a State of Origin match under his belt, was recruited to the Sharks by coach Shane Flanagan with an eye to him playing the fullback position.
Equally adept as a winger and a man also capable playing in the centres, Gordon has made it clear his preference is to play at No 1, while Flanagan has indicated he will get first shot at securing the fullback position during the upcoming trials.
Potentially standing in his way however the elusive Nathan Gardner who missed most of 2012 following an ACL tear to his knee and a subsequent reconstruction. Now recovered and training strongly during the pre-season, Gardner will be out to make Flanagan’s decision a difficult one and would love his trial performances to be good enough to push Gordon away from his favoured spot.
Throw in Matt Wright, who did an outstanding job covering for the injured Gardner last year, Nathan Stapleton another to have played a number of games at the back during his 46-game NRL career, Stewart Mills, an outstanding custodian during his junior days and now over a series of frustrating injuries, not to mention new boy in Beau Ryan who handled the role more than adequately at the Tigers in 2012 when needed in the position and the decision may not be as clear cut as it may seem.
The fullback battle will therefore make for an intriguing battle during the pre-season trial matches over the coming weeks.
In paraphrasing the coach, Flanagan often states he doesn’t so much pick the team as the players select themselves through a combination of training attitude and effort and form on the field. That being said he is throwing down the gauntlet to all with aspirations of running out in the ‘1’ jersey against the Titians on March 10.