Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan is adamant the Sharks should be allowed to play a home semi-final on their own ground.
Flanagan endorsed Cronulla hooker Michael Ennis’ comments from last week that the Sharks should play a prospective home final at Southern Cross Group Stadium at Woolooware rather than have it moved to ANZ Stadium or Allianz Stadium.
Cronulla have won all 10 of their home games in the shire this season as part of their club record 15-game winning streak, which they continued yesterday with a comfortable 36-4 win over Newcastle.
The Sharks have downed premiership heavyweights and title rivals Brisbane, North Queensland and Melbourne at their spiritual home and Flanagan said Cronulla deserved to play at their home ground like the teams around them.
“It’ll be really interesting come those last couple of weeks. Melbourne get a home semi-final, Brisbane could get a home semi-final, North Queensland get a home semi-final, Bulldogs get a home semi-final, Canberra get a home semi-final,” he said.
“You could have every team that earns the right to have a home semi-final play at their ground except for us.”
Cronulla remain on top of the NRL table with six rounds remaining, increasing the likelihood they will earn a home semi-final.
The Sharks have also enjoyed impressive support from their home fans, averaging 14,533 crowds this season at Shark Park. But that only puts them 10th highest of all NRL teams this season.
Flanagan said Sharks CEO Lyall Gorman would meet with the NRL today to put forward Cronulla’s case to host a potential qualifying final.
“If [we do get a home semi-final] it’d be nice to play here. The fans are turning up. Every game we play here it’s been a really good crowd. So [it’d be] a reward for the playing group and what they’ve achieved.”