Cronulla must stop mistaking September appearances for Premiership progress
The Roosters won big without looking like premiers
The scoreboard was dressed for September. The football was not. A 46-10 win ordinarily screams authority, yet the Roosters allowed a wounded Sharks side to drag the contest back to 12-10 and remain within eight points until the final 20 minutes. Only then did the margin become a landslide.
So are the Roosters playing like premiers? My answer is no - not yet. They moved the ball before earning the right, surrendered too much possession and lacked the ruthlessness expected of a side now 80 minutes from a grand final. Give the Dolphins the same invitations at Suncorp Stadium and they will not merely stay in the contest; they will take it over.
There are legitimate positives. Hugo Savala grew into the game, Robert Toia again showed his quality and the Roosters still possess enough strike to turn a tight contest into a blowout. Sam Walker may also return, although his availability will remain a live issue all week.
But the central responsibility now sits with Trent Robinson and Daly Cherry-Evans. They must establish what the Roosters’ best football looks like and demand it for 80 minutes, rather than relying on a late avalanche to disguise an uneven performance. Reaching a preliminary final is an achievement. Arriving there with your bad habits intact is an invitation to be exposed.
Crichton belongs on the bench, for now
Angus Crichton’s return changes the Roosters, but starting him next week would be an unnecessary gamble. He made an immediate impact against Cronulla and his power, direct running and ability to win the front foot are precisely what the Roosters require through the middle, where I believe his best football now sits.
The complication is his conditioning. Crichton remains underdone, and a tight preliminary final moving violently from end to end will ask far more of him than this comfortable finish did. Use him from the bench after the early sting has left the contest, give him a longer stint than he received against Cronulla and retain the flexibility to cover both the middle and back row.
He has already demonstrated in Origin that he can thrive through the centre of the field. The Roosters do not need to reinvent him; they need to time his introduction properly. He will be better for this run, but sentiment cannot be allowed to outrun his lungs.
Cronulla’s formula has reached its expiry date
Cronulla’s season did not end because of one ugly night; it ended because a dependable formula has become a dead end. Craig Fitzgibbon’s approach is good enough to reach September, as consecutive preliminary finals before this season proved, but merely making up the numbers cannot be the standard for a club with one premiership in more than 50 years.
The Sharks remain too one-dimensional, relying on their big forwards to establish control and waiting for Tricky Trindall to manufacture something exceptional. Without his brilliance, nothing magical happens. That is not a premiership system; it is meat-and-potatoes football hoping somebody eventually serves dessert.
This was also the final opportunity for this version of the playing group. Sione Katoa and Jesse Ramien are going to North Queensland, Sifa Talakai is joining the Perth Bears and Cameron McInnes is leaving for the UK Super League. Fitzgibbon has backed this group to the hilt and shown enormous loyalty, but loyalty becomes indulgence when the same football keeps producing the same ceiling.
This must become Trindall’s team
Cronulla must make the hard call and build their football around Tricky Trindall rather than Nicho Hynes. Their halves can both look like the chief playmaker from week to week, then spend other matches tippy-toeing around one another, which leaves the attack without clearly defined roles or a consistent rhythm.
Hynes is marketable, polished in front of the cameras and one of the faces of the club, but those qualities do not solve the black-and-white problem: I don’t believe he is delivering value for the money Cronulla are paying him. Too much of the salary cap is invested there, and significant change probably requires some of that money to be freed.
I’ve heard the Perth Bears are monitoring Hynes and would be interested if he became available. Cronulla should listen. Trindall punches above his weight every week and supplies the X-factor; he needs a calmer, defensively stronger five-eighth prepared to complement him rather than compete for ownership. Two uncertain conductors do not produce an orchestra. They produce noise.
Brailey is the spine piece worth building around
Blayke Brailey should become the organising centre of Cronulla’s next attack. I reckon he is a very good number nine, probably among the game’s top three or four hookers, yet the Sharks too often become content playing off others instead of using his speed and judgement from dummy half to force defenders backwards.
I love Brailey when his first thought is to run. That threat gets Cronulla over the advantage line, brings their middles onto the ball and creates the momentum from which the halves can finally operate with clarity. The club must determine what Brailey’s best football looks like, then recruit and structure the side around players who complement it.
There is enough talent in this roster to improve without detonating everything. Jesse Colquhoun was enormous in defeat while playing massive minutes through the middle, and the forward pack remains formidable. Cronulla need targeted changes, particularly in the centres and halves, but the more important adjustment is philosophical: stop waiting for isolated brilliance and empower the footballer who can connect the entire side.
Fitzgibbon is safe, but comfort must end
Craig Fitzgibbon deserves the opportunity to rebuild Cronulla, but he no longer deserves the comfort of preserving what he inherited. I think he is safe because the Sharks reached consecutive preliminary finals before making week two this season, while powerful people at the club love and respect him. That protection will not last indefinitely.
Cronulla’s Elite Pathways produced winning teams and assembled outstanding young talent, including recruits from New Zealand, yet too many of those players remain stuck waiting for a genuine first-grade opportunity. Fitzgibbon must cut the cord with the established order, promote the best youngsters and create a new identity rather than squeezing another season from a game plan whose limitations are now obvious.
The hard question is whether he is the man to make ruthless decisions after showing so much loyalty. I think he is, but next season must provide evidence. Results eventually make sentiment irrelevant, and if Cronulla cannot take the next step, the scrutiny will move from the roster to the coach.
The Sharks were dudded, twice
The Roosters deserved to advance, but Cronulla were still dudded by two rotten decisions. Daly Cherry-Evans’ late trip was a clear professional foul and warranted 10 minutes in the sin bin; instead, he remained on the field, was merely placed on report and went on to set up two tries.
I don’t believe the incident warrants suspension because nobody was injured, and I expect he will receive a leave pass, but that only strengthens the case that the punishment belonged in the match itself. Officials cannot ignore a red-hot act during a sudden-death final and hope the judiciary cleans up afterwards.
Teig Wilton also scored. Any contact attempting to complete the tackle was not enough to overturn what occurred in front of everyone. Neither call changes Cronulla’s deeper problems, nor does it turn 46-10 into a moral victory, but finals demand better than procedural explanations and sugar-coating. The Sharks were beaten by a superior side and failed by the officials. Both things can be true.
