'Pull his head in': Coach urged to clip 'fiery' star

Ronaldo Mulitalo is one of the form wingers of the NRL - but Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon needs to sit him down and tell him to pull his head in this week. The fiery winger had an outstanding game in the 31-26 win over premiership favourites Melbourne, but marred his performance by deliberately starting several flare-ups. The speedy winger has a short fuse and loves to niggle opponents and this led to several push-and-shove melees in a spiteful game. But times have changed, and the winger will keep niggling rival teams… unless the Sharks tell him to zip it.

Panthers cop blow as big-name star expected to miss NRL preliminary final against Sharks

Panthers coach Ivan Cleary has revealed he isn't expecting back-rower Scott Sorensen to be fit to play in Saturday night's preliminary final against the Sharks, despite naming him in his extended squad. Sorensen has been an integral part of the Penrith juggernaut that has won three-straight NRL premierships. But the back-rower has endured an injury-plagued year and tweaked his hamstring in Round 23 against Parramatta. Sorensen has named in the reserves by Cleary on Tuesday, but the coach admitted on Thursday he probably won't be ready. stages but there's a fair bit tonight that he'll need to do. At this stage we feel like he can, but doing it is another thing. If he's going to play then he's got to be able to play." It would be a big blow to the Panthers if Sorensen can't play due to his vast experience in big games. When filly-fit he starts in the second row alongside Liam Martin, but Cleary has been forced to lean on the likes of Luke Garner, Lindsay Smith and Matt Eisenhuth in his absence. "He's had a pretty frustrating year," Cleary said about Sorensen. "He's very important for us and we'd love to have him out there so we'll see what we can do." 

'Best mate' poised to help Broncos land Trindall

With Sam Walker looking more and more likely to re-sign with the Roosters, the Broncos are set to move their sights to a different playmaker - Sharks' man of the moment Braydon Trindall. Trindall, who produced the game of his life in last weekend's defeat of the Cowboys, comes off contract at the end of 2025 - the same time Broncos general Adam Reynolds is set to retire. The Broncos' number one target has been local boy Walker, but they know the Roosters lose very few players they want to keep and the promising halfback has been made a priority to stay at Bondi Junction. That game, co-incidentally, propelled the 25-year-old Trindall to his breakout season - he set up two tries and led the Indigenous side to a win over the Maoris. The Sharks will push hard to keep the in-form playmaker - who has stated he is likely to go to the open market on November 1 - in a worrying sign for the club.

Gal: Danger for breakout star as 'big dollars' await

Braydon Trindall had the best game of his career the other night and it's been a long time coming for the Sharks playmaker - but now he needs to back it up. He has bided his time. He has done the hard yards to get to where he wanted to get to. But now, it's a matter of him playing good every week. It's not hard for someone to have a good game - he had a great game the other day - but the challenge for him is to play like that more often than not. When you talk about the Johnahan Thurstons and Cameron Smiths of the world, they used to do that every week and to be a good player, that's what you've got to do. He's a hard worker and he obviously had an off-field problem this year, but to his credit he put his hand up straight away and accepted responsibility. It was an unfortunate incident and the situation he put himself in wasn't right - but he's gone back to being who he is. I can't say that indiscretion has changed him. He has always been a guy who works hard, turns up to training and does his job every week. Since he's come back, he has played good footy and it was good to see him have a breakout game the other night. To expect him to play like that every week might be a big ask, but getting him to play near that standard on a consistent basis is the challenge for him. The next issue for the Sharks will be whether they can retain Trindall beyond next year. Any playmaker who comes off-contract is probably a concern, because there's not a lot of good ones around. The timing of that game he played is pretty good for him, but anyone can play a good game and the challenge is to back it up. If you want to be an elite player and earn the big dollars, you've got to play good every week. I'm not sure what he's thinking about where he wants to be in the future, but the Sharks have been pretty good to him for a long time and stuck by him - he was back at the club when I was playing. I'd imagine he is pretty tight with the Sharks boys and everyone at the club, so I hope he stays. As for this weekend's prelim final against the Panthers, if they can play like they did on Friday night in the first half, they can beat anyone. They just need to find that consistency for the 80 minutes.

Unsung heroes of Sharks rise

You need a good bench to win a premiership - and the Sharks' awesome foursome are the equal of any in the NRL in 2024. Sio Talakai, Royce Hunt, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Tuku Hau Tapuha all played significant roles in the Sharks' gritty 25-18 win over the Storm on Saturday night, coming off the pine to lift the team to a massive win. Few gave the Sharks a chance in the Melbourne 'graveyard' when star playmaker Nicho Hynes pulled out on game day through injury but Cronulla carved out a fine win in his absence. And it was in no small part due to the contribution of the numbers 14 to 17. Talakai and Tapuha both scored vital tries, while Hamlin-Uele and Hunt added energy and enthusiasm when given their chance off the bench. The win was as good as Cronulla has produced in many years and made a mockery of claims that the Sharks can't match it with the big guns.

Sharks Could Lose Son-Of-A-Gun

The Sharks have a got a 'gun' youngster in their ranks in boom young centre Kayal Iro.The 23-year-old son of former Kiwi Test star Kevin Iro, Kayal has been on fire in the NSW Cup for the past couple of seasons but has played just one top grade game for Cronulla.The Sharks have plenty of experienced and talented outside backs ahead of Iro on the pecking order blocking his path to a regular top grade spot.As a result, I'm hearing the Cook Islands international is assessing his options for next season and could be on the move.Plenty of NRL clubs are in need of class outside backs and he would have no trouble finding a new home.

Coach urged to make major change after flogging

Craig Fitzgibbon has always been known as one of rugby league's nicest guys but the time has come for the Sharks coach to add a mean edge to his personality.The Sharks have lost three of their past five games and were absolutely flogged by the Storm in Melbourne on Sunday.Fitzgibbon has used just 21 players all season, meaning that he has stuck by the same players just about every week in, week out.Clearly, the Sharks have hit the wall and the team needs a shake-up.Several players are not living up to the hype while young guns like Connor Tracey continue to star in the NSW Cup and do well in the top grade when given the rare chance.Wayne Bennett once said "coaching isn't a popularity contest" and the time has come for Fitzy to get tough with his troops before the season slips away.

Sharks star misses out on big bucks

Will Kennedy has impeccable timing on the football field - but off it, not so much.Just days after signing a new deal with the Sharks, Kennedy bagged a superb hat-trick in Cronulla's 33-20 win over the Bulldogs.Kennedy had been in hot demand from rival clubs and had he held off signing, he could easily have commanded a much larger deal after his demolition job on the Bulldogs.Kennedy did all the damage in the first 22 minutes against the injury-ravaged Doggies to take his tally for the season to nine tries in seven games.Kennedy's performance put the Sharks on track for back-to-back wins for the first time this season - but their defence was still shaky against a spare parts Bulldogs side.

Sharks rocked by forward's massive injury blow

Cronulla has suffered a huge injury blow with front-rower Toby Rudolf expected to be sidelined for up to three months.The 27-year-old had surgery on Tuesday on his big toe.He suffered the injury during Sunday's 32-30 loss to the Warriors, with scans revealing damage to the first metatarsophalangeal joint, which is located at the base of the big toe."The rehabilitation process will result in a recovery period of approximately three months before Rudolf would be fit to return," the Sharks said in a statement.That would sideline him until the round 19 match against the Wests Tigers in early July.Adding to the Sharks' woes, Dale Finucane will spend the next three matches on the sideline after taking the early plea for a hip drop tackle.Cronulla has the bye this week, before facing the Roosters on April 14 at PointsBet Stadium.In some good news for coach Craig Fitzgibbon, Wade Graham will return from suspension to face the Roosters, while Oregon Kaufusi is also expected to return after missing the match against the Warriors with concussion.Widely expected to challenge for a top four spot at the start of the season, the Sharks have won just two of their five matches to date, and sit in 12th spot on the ladder.