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.

Fatal selection call that 'hurt Cronulla badly'

I'm a big fan of Wade Graham, Andrew Fifita and Aiden Tolman - they have been fine players for a long time.But carrying the three veterans in the one pack hurt Cronulla badly against the youthful Souths forwards on Saturday night.The trio could only manage between 50 and 60 metres each carting the ball forward - Souths' Tevita Tatola ran more than the three of them combined with 175 power-packed metres.The Sharks had a fine season before the disappointing fadeout at Allianz Stadium, where Souths totally dominated them up front.Dale Finucane was the only Cronulla forward to run for more than 100 metres - all six Souths starters ran for triple figures.With Fifita and Tolman set to hang up the boots, the Sharks will have a younger, leaner pack next season and that should give them a harder, faster look up the middle which is so essential in the modern game.

Sharks’ $1.8m move has triggered an epic ‘shootout’... and one star has the upper hand

When Matt Moylan and Shaun Johnson spearheaded a dominant 38-10 win over the Titans on the weekend, it appeared Cronulla had settled on its first-choice halves pairing moving forward. The NRL news cycle moves fast though. Skip ahead a few days and the signing of Nicho Hynes has suddenly thrown that plan out the window. Now it appears as if one will be forced out and that both now have the rest of the season to prove they should be the one to partner Hynes. Both were already likely looking at reduced deals if they wanted to remain at Cronulla. But the signing of Hynes and extensions of Will Kennedy and Toby Rudolf reportedly set the club back $4.3 million and there may not be space left for both. The Daily Telegraphreported on Wednesday that Moylan has the upper hand, with the club set to re-sign the 29-year old, leaving Johnson’s future at the Shire clouded.

Toby Rudolf by rivals

If Cronulla lose rugged forward Toby Rudolf for next season, they will have no one to blame but themselves. Rudolf is one of the most sought-after players on the open market, with half a dozen clubs after his signature. The hard-running back-rower was a big fan of John Morris and the sacked Sharks coach had Rudolph talked into signing a new deal a few weeks back. Morris told the board that he has Rudolf ready to put pen to paper but officials held the former coach in such contempt at that stage that they ignored his messages. Rudolph is now fair game as a result - and cashed up rivals, headed by the Bulldogs, are circling him with big dollars.