For weeks now Shane Flanagan has struggled to put his finger on why his side haven’t been producing their best football.
There have been brief patches when they’ve been scintillating. Their second half against Canberra immediately springs to mind. They didn’t concede a try against Melbourne or Penrith. There has been enough good to suggest their best form is just around the corner. That the reigning premiers are circling and their title defence is on track.
But there has also been some stuff that has left Flanagan scratching his head. Poor completion rates, poor game management. A lack of discipline. Essentially, the opposite of how brilliantly Cronulla played last season.
The trend looked certain to continue on Friday night as Cronulla took on their bitter rivals St George Illawarra at Kogarah.
The Sharks completed just 22 of 32, or 69 per cent, of their sets. They gave away seven penalties and made 14 errors.
Compare that to the Dragons, who completed an incredible 33 of 36, or 92 per cent, of their sets. They gave away four penalties and made just four errors.
The statistics told you there was no way Cronulla could win that game.
But somehow, again, the Sharks found a way to win. An 18-14 victory in an enthralling derby.
“I don’t know that we’re going that good. I think we’re brave and competing really hard for each other. But we’re not playing that well at the moment,” Flanagan said.
“To get two points here tonight is pretty good. It’s concerning but there’s no quick fix for it.
“The effort was outstanding. The attitude was great. The way they competed was top notch. I was really pleased with it. Our execution wasn’t great but they just kept turning up for each other and competing and probably could have scored one or two more tries. [There were] opportunities that we didn’t take on the back of our fatigue level because we turned the ball over too much. But the effort was outstanding.”
It is that effort that has not changed from last season. So often in 2016 Cronulla simply wanted it more than their opposition. They won 14 games by 12 points or less. They were willing to keep going, to keep grinding longer than their opponents. They refused to quit in the close games and found a way to win. It is what they built their premiership on.
And while the backline moves haven’t been as fluent and the penalties and mistakes have piled up, there they are. In second place after 10 rounds.
There are reasons for their so-called struggles, too. They essentially had half of the spine of their premiership-winning side ripped out.
Their premiership-winning hooker Michael Ennis – gone. Their mercurial fullback Ben Barba – gone.
It has taken time, and will take longer, for them to reach their best football. They are clearly not there yet.
Critics almost delighted in telling anyone and everyone that Cronulla couldn’t possibly win back to back competitions. You can see their logic. It hasn’t been done since Brisbane in 1992-93.
But how scary must that be for the rest of the competition? The Sharks, clunky at best in the eyes of many so far, are still setting the pace.
The win was also pleasing for Flanagan, and Sharks fans, given what it means as a derby, one of the most intense local rivalries in the competition, given their round three loss to the Dragons on home soil.
“These games are always good to win. Two points are two points but obviously [to win in] the derby takes the pressure off a little bit,” Flanagan said.
“I wouldn’t like to go the rest of the year with all the Dragons supporters that live in the shire talking about how they got us twice this year. So that was pleasing.”
