Coach Craig Fitzgibbon says unlike their past two seasons Cronulla will enter their NRL final against Melbourne in form, with star playmaker Nicho Hynes leading the charge.
The Sharks take on the minor premiers at AAMI Park on Saturday afternoon, looking to snap their run of six finals losses including three under Fitzgibbon.
Nicho HynesCredit: Getty Images
Cronulla have won five of their past six matches, losing once on the buzzer, which gives the coach confidence they can cause an upset against the Storm.
“The last two years we’ve probably almost limped into the finals, players in, players out,” Fitzgibbon said.
“This year we’ve got a bit of energy about us and we feel like we’ve surged through the back end of the year with energy.”
They will, however, be without Jesse Ramien after the star centre failed to recover from an ankle injury by Friday, with Siosifa Talakai taking his place.
Prop Tom Hazelton (knee) completed their final training session in Melbourne and will join the interchange in a major boost to their attacking drive.
Hynes returned from a serious ankle injury for the last two rounds and Fitzgibbon felt he was hitting his straps.
While the halfback’s ability to deliver in big games – finals and the State of Origin arena – has been questioned, Fitzgibbon said he had faith.
“He hasn’t had that many (big games) so he might not have yet, but that’s not to say he can’t in the future,” he said of the 28-year-old.
“He’s won us plenty of games as well and they seem to be forgotten so we’ll find out, I know he’s ready.
“He was a whole lot sharper last week than his first game back and combined really well with Tricky (Braydon Trindall).
“What Nicho’s done really well is come back in and work for the team and I think our team’s flourished with his return a little bit.
“If he gets up and he gets running and confident and our team’s playing well, we’ll see the best version of him.
“But we’ve got to play like a team, we need a team performance, we’re playing against the Melbourne Storm down here and if we don’t have that it won’t matter how well Nicho plays.”
In a top-of-the-table clash in round 10, the Sharks downed the Storm 25-18 at AAMI Park, their first win in Melbourne since 2018.
Hynes was a late withdrawal from that clash and they started hooker Blayke Brailey at halfback with the visitors sticking to a simple game plan of making metres through the middle.
Fitzgibbon said while they would approach this match differently, they drew confidence in their ability to switch up the game plan if required, with rain forecast.
“Obviously, we’ve got two halves as opposed to one, and we played with an extra middle forward that night, but we’ve got the ability to do that in-game if that’s what’s needed,” he said.
AAP
