Cronulla captain Paul Gallen admitted he'd finished every training session during the Sharks pre-season feeling "shocked" that Canterbury allowed veteran hooker Michael Ennis to leave their fold.
Ennis was effectively released by the Bulldogs when the 2014 grand finalists recruited rising star Michael Lichaa from the Sharks, but Gallen said he'd been impressed by the energy and enthusiasm the 30-year-old former NSW player had brought to Cronulla and predicted he'd help lift the club to a new dimension.
"Michael Ennis, he'll be so good for me and he'll be great for the team," Gallen said."The leadership he's already showing at training; the way he speaks to the players, it's all great and I just love his attitude."I've always thought of Canterbury as being a terrific club but I still can't believe we were able to get a player of his quality from the Dogs ... I'm pretty shocked, really. He is going to be outstanding for us and everything about his game excites me."
Ennis, who played Origin for NSW seven times, is expected to relieve Gallen of many of the onfield responsibilities he has been forced to shoulder in recent years - and the 33-year-old Sharks' veteran said that could only be help his freshness and focus.
"I feel as though [with Ennis on board] I just need to focus on my role at the moment," he said. "I'm relaxed, I feel comfortable. I just have to do those tough runs up the middle and make a quick-play-the-ball and I think you'll see my game improve because of that."
Gallen, who was preparing for his third professional bout as a heavyweight boxer on the Footy Show's fight night on January 31, said he hadn't allowed the immense pressure on Cronulla to finally break through and win a premiership - after 47-years of false dawns and frustrations - to cloud his thoughts.
"I'm just trying to keep my head down, we had a tough season last year and when I look at the squad we've got it's exciting," he said. "But we have to keep a lid on that and continue to work hard ... and we've been working very hard.
"I know people talk about winning the premiership but it drives everyone. Every player wants to win the premiership, and there's obviously a lot of steps you need to take along the way. Yes, it's the ultimate goal but I'm more focused on doing the things required to do the job."
Gallen said while he did not know much about new Cronulla chief executive Lyall Gorman's vision for the Sharks to field a team in the 2017 A-League competition, he didn't believe it would threaten the league team and said he would support the venture if it helped improve the club's finances and added to the local community.
"A lot of people [in the shire] have money and I find it really weird that a club like Cronulla has always struggled," he said. "It's up to the likes of Lyall to get people involved and if that means forming a soccer team will help secure the club's future, and it gets the community even more involved with the Sharks, then that's fine."
How do you think Ennis will go with the Sharks?
