Sharks underdogs, but eye top-four respect in finals

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Sharks underdogs, but eye top-four respect in finals

Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon has played the underdog card ahead of the NRL finals, but hopes one day the Sharks are held in the same regard as their top-four rivals.

The Sharks on Sunday completed the perfect warm-up for their qualifying final against Melbourne, beating Manly 40-20 in one of their best performances in months.

Part of the top four for the majority of the season since the end of March, Cronulla have already beaten the Storm in Melbourne this year with a 25-18 win in May.

But things have changed significantly since then, with Melbourne winning 12 of 15 games and the Sharks eight of 15.

The Storm will also carry in a sizeable advantage with a nine-day turnaround to Cronulla’s six, with Melbourne also resting players last week.

“We’ll be massive underdogs,” Fitzgibbon said.

“Short turnaround, long turnaround. They’re Melbourne, we’re the Sharks. But we’ve earned the right to get this game.

“Those (other top four) clubs have been there. Penrith, Melbourne and the Roosters – they know what it’s about.

“They’ve been there. Us other clubs are cracking away to try and get close. I feel like we’ve done a good job to get closer this year.

“How close, we’ll find out in the next month.”

The next month looms as critical for this current Sharks group.

Cronulla have not won a finals match since 2018, having dropped five on the trot since then.

That storyline has become a constant talking point in the past two finals series, particularly after Cronulla finished second in 2022 and were knocked out in straight sets.

Fitzgibbon suggested on Sunday he still felt the Sharks were not truly respected by those outside the club.

“We’re working on respecting each other and how we earn more respect internally,” Fitzgibbon said.

“But I never sit here without hearing (whether we’re the real deal). We start the week with a press conference hearing that.

“It’s 27 rounds, but we’ve been in the top four for the whole year. We’ve earned that. But that’s also not going to get us over the line come semis.

“We just have to work on earning each other’s respect.

“If we do that we’ll get external respect eventually. Sometimes, maybe, I doubt it.”

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