For too long Cronulla have come out of losing seasons with a positive attitude because they’d competed and come close on occasion.
But coach Shane Flanagan is fed up with that mentality, declaring if the Sharks are any hope of reaching their potential and challenging for their maiden premiership they have to debunk the myth of the “honourable loss”.
“If you had to describe the Sharks over the past few years, in my opinion, you’d say we had a lot of honourable losses,” Flanagan told AAP.
“We’d compete and compete but didn’t have that touch of class to finish a team off.
“And whilst I’m really happy with the boys’ attitude and their will to compete, it’s just not good enough anymore. We need to win those football games.”
Since entering the competition in 1967 the Sharks have been rugby league’s whipping boys – as evidenced by their empty trophy cabinet, save for the 1979 Amco Cup.
Flanagan is determined to turn this culture around, which is why he turned to troubled superstar Todd Carney when few other NRL clubs would.
Carney, sacked from a second club last year for repeated breaches of his contract, mostly relating to alcohol, comes to Cronulla on what seems certain to be his last chance.
But while his off-field antics have landed him in hot water time and again, it is what Carney offers on the field that has Sharks fans in a frenzy ahead of the 2012 season.
“He’s the half we’ve been looking for,” Flanagan said.
The 2010 Dally M medal winner is the biggest in a host of signings for Cronulla, who also brought back former Sharks Isaac de Gois and Ben Ross, and snared Wests Tigers props Bryce Gibbs and Andrew Fifita among others.
But Carney is the one Flanagan is pinning his hopes on to make the biggest difference.
If Carney fires, so can the Cronulla backline which has been near dormant in recent times as the Sharks struggled to put points on the scoreboard.
“We surely hope (Carney) will energise the backline,” Flanagan said.
“I think everyone is a little bit more aware and focussed on our attacking game (with Carney around).
“By no means have we dropped off our work on defence but Todd does create that little bit of anticipation for those outside backs and they have to be on their game and ready for him to go.
“Because when he goes, if you haven’t anticipated it you can’t catch up.”
The impressive Cronulla pack took a hit last year when Kade Snowden (Newcastle) and Luke Douglas (Gold Coast) walked away from the club, but stepping in to fill that void comes Ross, Gibbs, Fifita, Jon Green (Dragons) and Mark Taufua (Newcastle) giving Flanagan as much prop depth as any coach in the competition.
The same can be said for the backline, where regular centres Ben Pomeroy and Colin Best are already under pressure for their round one roles as the club’s enthusiastic youngsters fight for their chance to play alongside Carney.
