Sharks ready to oust NRL outsiders tag

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan is not surprised the Sharks have been written off by a number of NRL critics, but believes his side are capable of proving the doubters wrong.

The Sharks are equal on the eighth line of betting with South Sydney at the TAB, starting the year at the longest odds for a premiership-winning team to defend their title in the 20-season NRL era.

And while Flanagan said he could understand why his team had attracted their critics over the off-season, he didn’t hold the same concerns for his team.

“On the back of Ben Barba and Mick Ennis retiring, all you people have got a lot of ammunition there,” Flanagan said.

“But as I said, I think I’ve got two good replacements there and Val (Holmes) will come back in eventually as well.

“He’s a star of the future and a star of the game now.”

Holmes will miss Thursday night’s season opener against Brisbane, with Gerard Beale set to slot into the No.1 jersey.

Last year’s under-20s player of the year, Jayden Brailey, will take Ennis’ spot in the hooking role, and Flanagan is backing him to excel.

The Sharks have never endured such a taxing pre-season disrupted by on-field commitments.

They were one of the last clubs to return to training following their grand final win, while a number of players didn’t settle back into work until the New Year after the Four Nations tournament.

They then headed to England a little over a month later, where they were heavily beaten 22-6 by Wigan in the World Club Challenge.

“But if that’s what happens with winning the competition, I will take it every week,” Flanagan said.

It’s led to a number of experts questioning whether they could become the first defending champions since Melbourne in 2010 to miss the next season’s finals series – but that was due to the Storm’s salary-cap penalty.

Beyond that, it was the Wests Tigers in 2006 – but Flanagan has already set a clear path his team must follow as they look to defend their title.

“You make the top four, you give it a chance,” he said.

“Our first thing is to win on Thursday night.

“And as a bigger picture thing, we need to make the top four. You win two out of every three games, you’re in the top four and that’s where we need to be at the end of the year.”

Those views were echoed by captain Paul Gallen, who said the club’s position as outsiders with punters did not concern the playing group.

“Last year, no one gave us a chance to win the competition and we did that,” he said.

“We’ve just to go out there and do what we do well on the field – winning games. It will shut people up.

“If we start losing, we’re going to hear more noise – but the good news is only we can control that.”

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