Like most Cronulla Sharks fans, Clinton Maynard will always remember where he was on October 2, 2016.
For Maynard, he was sitting in the front row at the northern end of ANZ Stadium as the Sharks created history, winning their maiden premiership with an epic 14-12 win over Melbourne.
When he looked up just after full-time was blown, he saw Sharks centre Jack Bird running towards him. They embraced. It was a moment Maynard will never forget.
“Melbourne were throwing the ball around after the bell and it would have been typical of Cronulla and for us fans for the Storm to score after the bell to win the grand final when we’d been the best side all game,” Maynard told the Leader.
“I was there with my wife and my three little kids. When we won I didn’t cry or cheer, it was just relief. I had my head down and I was holding an old 80s Cronulla flag. I look up and Jack Bird is running towards me. I thought what’s going on here.
“I held my arms out and hugged him for 20 or 30 seconds. It was an amazing moment. I had dozens of messages because Channel 9 had run the footage and everyone had seen it.
“Outside of my wedding day and my kids being born, it was without question the best moment of my life.”
That feeling is why Maynard, a life-long Sharks fan and shire local, decided to write his book, Turn Your Porch Lights Off: The Story of Cronulla’s First NRL Premiership.
Maynard, who worked as a journalist and broadcaster with 2UE for 20 years and is now a broadcaster with Macquarie Sports Radio, wanted fans to be able to have something they could physically hold on to. A memento of one of the greatest stories in Australian sporting history – a club on the brink of financial oblivion, dragged through the dark days of the ASADA investigation and a wooden spoon in 2014, that picked itself up off the floor to win its first ever premiership just two seasons later.
“It’s a remarkable story,” Maynard said.
“Without a doubt my favourite moment of writing it was getting to sit down with [Andrew Ettingshausen] for about an hour. He told me he was just hoping to attend the game, then he gets a call from [NRL CEO] Todd Greenberg out of the blue to ask if he wanted to be involved on stage.
“ET said he ranks being there to hand out the medallions as the highlight of his post-football career. And that’s why it was so special he was there. He was representing all Sharks players, the greats of the past, who came so close and didn’t quite get there.
“It wasn’t just about the 17 players or [Shane Flanagan] and his staff. All the past players, the fans, ET was there to represent them. It was symbolic.”
The book, which Maynard self-published, has sold copies as far away as London and China as well as every state and territory in Australia.
It is available in four locations around the shire including the Sharks Leagues Club merchandise store, Engadine Newsagency, Harry Hartog Booksellers Westfield Miranda and The Best Little Book Shop in Town Cronulla Mall as well as online at sharks.com.au.