Cronulla playmaker Nicho Hynes insists the key for the Sharks ending their finals hoodoo is by “staying connected” as they prepare to face the Cowboys in a sudden-death play-off.
The Sharks were shellshocked after Saturday's 37-10 loss to the Storm but Hynes said they can bounce back against the Cowboys and set up a grand final qualifying clash with Penrith.
"Don’t lose our heads here, and learn from our mistakes from this game," Hynes said.
“Just get together quick as we can, get back to the training paddock, review the game, and then get ready to go.”
The loss marked Cronulla's seventh consecutive finals defeat since 2018 and it was impossible to escape the sense that the weight of that statistic weighed heavily on the players as they trudged dejectedly out of AAMI Park.
You wonder what went through their minds watching the Cowboys come from behind to down the Knights 28-16 as they had dinner at the team hotel, even as they tried to remain focused on themselves.
That unwanted finals record will undoubtedly continue to lurk in every conversation about the Sharks premiership hopes – until the day that they finally get the job done.
Hynes said that the message from coach Craig Fitzgibbon was a simple one.
“Don’t worry about the outside noise, don’t worry about blaming anyone,” he revealed. “It’s just about regrouping and staying tight.”
Cronulla captain Cam McInnes had only fighting words when asked about how the team would regroup after the defeat.
“It’s not hard at all [to regroup],” he declared. “There's a massive opportunity ahead of us. Everything’s there.
"You obviously want to win and go that shorter route, but teams would kill to be here. No complacency, no down, negative energy.”
Fitzgibbon saw some positive signs for next week in the way that his team came back into the game after a horror start that saw them concede a try in the first minute of play.
Briton Nikora Try
“The way we got back into it, you could see that it was not going our way at all, we were getting nothing,” he said. “I felt we really hung in there.”
“There was lots of live ball, end to end footy – I wouldn’t say end to end, it was their end to our end – but lots of periods there of live footy.
“We’ll get that out of it, but we’ve got to put details back into our game. And under pressure - when teams are controlling that, that’s what we’ve got to get better at.”
A half chance for the Sharks
As the press conference with Fitzgibbon and McInnes concluded, the table in front of them was knocked, flinging the microphones and recorders of journalists into the ether.
The Sharks will be hoping that symbolism says more about the final tipping point to overturn a disappointing run in finals than it does the instability of their foundations.
“The only thing I said was, respect is earned,” Fitzgibbon told journalists firmly, when asked about midweek comments.
“It’s not a gift. No one gives it to you. All we’ve earned, which is the end of the season, is the opportunity to be in the top four. That’s the only respect we’ve earned.”
“I also said, we have to earn it on this stage. That was all I was saying.”
