Coach's Corner with Shane Flanagan
ALTHOUGH it may have been a long pre-season, it certainly has been a productive one for our NRL squad and everybody is super excited about round one on Sunday at Remondis Stadium.
We have had almost a full squad for our entire pre-season for the fi rst time in fi ve or six years, with just a couple of players away at Four Nations and only a few needing minor surgery.
So, almost our entire squad was ready to go by December and we are really well prepared to start the year.
Partly responsible for the positive vibe at the club are some of the new faces, with Andrew Gray and his highperformance team and assistant coach Steve Price bringing exciting innovations and signifi cant changes to the way we do things.
Players such as Michael Ennis, Ben Barba, Gerard Beale and Jayson Bukuya have strengthened our roster and added to the class and professionalism within the group.
I could not be more pleased with the way it has come together and now it is a matter of putting everything into practice from next weekend.
However, the Canberra Raiders do not care how well we have prepared or what changes we have made; they will come here equally ready to play and looking to spoil the party.
So, we will need to be on our game if we hope to start our season on a winning note.
The players and myself love to hear that membership numbers and fan interest is high, so I encourage all our members and supporters to get to the fi rst home game of 2015 and to make it a day to remember.
Team shot:
BACK ROW: Nathan Gardner, Pat Politoni, Tinirau Arona, Jacob Gagan, Jack Bird, Sosaia Feki, RIcky Leutele, Sami Saulimuma, Fa’amanu Brown
MIDDLE ROW: Dallas Wells, Mitch Brown, Saul Houma, Junior Roqica, Andrew Fifita, Sam Tagataese, David Fifita, Matt Prior, Blake Ayshford, Kyle Stanley, Jayson Bukuya
FRONT ROW: Jeff Robson, Todd Murphy, Ben Barba, Chris Heighington, Michael Ennis, Paul Gallen, Wade Graham, Michael Gordon, Luke Lewis, Gerard Beale, Valentine Holmes.
How will the Sharks go in 2015?
