Sharks coach Ricky Stuart's results-based ethos has his team circling a top-two finish, writes Andrew Webster.
When the Sharks players break for a drink during a training session, often the coach is still on the field, still with the Steeden on a string after all these years.
Field goals from the sideline. Punt kicks curling through the posts. A sneaky wager with the rest of the coaching staff hangs on the result but something else is consequently gained: instant cred from the players, who marvel at the coach who can still unfurl the skills that many players in the modern game no longer have.
Memories fade with time but nobody who saw Ricky Stuart step onto a rugby union or league field can forget his panache and potency with hand or foot.
The irony, of course, is that he now coaches a side that has a style of play some compare to Chinese water torture. Does he care?
"If we have to get a bad rap for the way that we play, and still be coming third at this stage of the season, I'll take the bad rap every day of the week," he says. "It doesn't worry me. We're not out there to please any critics … We're out there to please ourselves in winning games of football."
And they are winning. They are third on the ladder. They are one of the few sides to beat Melbourne this season. They meet the Roosters at Toyota Stadium tonight. They are within striking distance of an all-important top-two finish with three rounds to play. "And we're a better chance of getting there than most other teams," Stuart says firmly.
Besides, who said you had to win and entertain? "They try to win," says Roosters coach and Stuart's former player, Brad Fittler. "That's enough."
Criticism of the Sharks' style belies the remarkable job Stuart has done since leaving the Roosters by mutual agreement at the end of 2006. During his tenure, they reached three straight grand finals with brutal defence.
Stuart then elevated the Sharks to within two points of a top-eight finish, after they had ended 2006 third-last under Stuart Raper. The victories didn't always come but the competitiveness was evident: teams knew they had been in a game against the boys from the Shire.
The difference this season? "The belief in one another," says Stuart, who is not one for hyperbole. "We haven't got the high-profile superstars. But that's enabled us to grow and bond - we play for each other. Last year, when we got into a tight situation and we were leading, say 16-4, and the other side scored, you could feel the crowd tighten up from previous experience over the years. Oh no, here we go again … The feeling slipped onto the field and I could feel the players tightening up. We've worked very hard at handling adversity. We're a consistent football team that plays tough for each other."
The Sharks' dour style mirrors the uncompromising decisions Stuart and new chief executive Tony Zappia have been forced to make in the front office.
Players have been moved on: the most notable, halfback and former captain Brett Kimmorley, is leaving for the Bulldogs after a turbulent eight seasons.
Players are being parachuted in: Wigan and former Dragons five-eighth Trent Barrett and Roosters back-rower Anthony Tupou will finally provide some attacking mojo.
They're only part of a wider masterplan. "Ricky and I identified a three-year plan at the start of the season and for the next two years we'll be building on the changes we've made for 2009," says Zappia, who joined the Sharks this season.
Says Stuart of the tough calls: "There's still more to come. If we make the top two and win the grand final, there will still be a lot of progress, a lot of tough decisions, to be made."
To that end, there's no word yet on whether the club will re-sign Luke Covell, the NRL's leading point-scorer but a winger who would struggle to beat Darryl Halligan in a footrace.
Covell represents the dearth of speed in the Sharks' backline, with the exception of fullback Brett Kearney. Stuart's kingdom for a strike player like Israel Folau, Billy Slater or Brett Stewart.
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