Sitting well near the top of the NRL ladder, the Cronulla Sharks are reportedly looking to offload Brett Kimmorley in a potential trade deal with the St George Illawarra Dragons. Not only is the deal being sought out – if successful, the trade would commence immediately and impact on both teams current 2008 campaign.
For St George, things couldn’t get any worse – so the appearance of Noddy in their line-up cannot be a bad thing. Struggling for cohesion and experience, the Dragons would love to have him on board. Why on earth Simon Woolford is on the outer I will never know, the experienced Woolfood is the kind of passionate player the Dragons need – yet Brownie seems reluctant to let Woolford run his own race.
Anyway, back to those Sharks. Even if the situation between Ricky Stuart and Brett Kimmorley isn’t ideal and the guys don’t agree 100% on how the side should be run, things seem to be going swimmingly at the moment – why rock the boat? Especially when the Sharks are smashing through all expectations!
We talk about how important a coach is to an NRL side, but just as important is smart planning and networking by a club CEO. A quality CEO has the forsight to be planning for the future, looking for players on offer and ensuring talented lower graders are being looked after and getting their chances, before they get too impatient.
You have to respect Wayne Bennett and Peter Doubst in this situation, as the power brokers for the Dragons, they are plotting a course for a true assault on the NRL premiership in 2009 – ensuring the likes of either Brett Kimmorley or Trent Barrett are on deck, planning and strategising well in advance.
I don’t think you can say the same about the Sharks. While there is no doubt Ricky Stuart is doing things right and new CEO Tony Zappia has good credentials – why one earth would they be offloading the reliable and experienced Brett Kimmorley. Sure, he doesn’t come cheap and Noddy takes a fair chunk of the salary cap – but as he steers them successfully around the park and keeps the results coming in, surely you wouldn’t want to brush him?
The other advantage of Brett Kimmorley is that he is durable. Rarely injured, battle hardened – he is the ultimate competitor. In exchange the Sharks want Jason Ryles, now this makes even less sense. Ryles was once the ultimate forward in the NRL – a strong, metre eating forward that had a quality offload. With respect, Ryles has been hampered heavily by injury and has lost his aura. Playing little football, he lost his confidence and has been playing at well below his best in the past few seasons.
If this trade should occur, it’s all upside for the St George Illawarra Dragons and mere stupidity for the Cronulla Sharks.
So as the Sharks sit favourably on the NRL table, it seems they just can’t see a premiership winning side when it looks them in the face. Yep, should this deal come off – everyone at Cronulla will end up looking like Noddies.
Kimmorley is seen as a liability by Shark supporters. His kicking game is seen as barely adequate – until he kicks straight into the arms of a speedy back on the opposing team. He is not good defending near his line in a one-on-one. He can not ‘contrive’ a try. His set-up kicks are very badly directed. Seymour’s are 200% better. Kimmorley doesn’t seem able to plan. He runs too far before offloading. For a half, he has no apparent bag of tricks. He is unable to make a break and has no speed. The moment he is NOT chosen for SOO 3 his intensity drops right off. Sorry, but when he WASN’T in the team in the last quarter of last year the Sharks looked far more capable of success. Seymour and Bird WILL do a more professional job. Every Cronulla supporter i know has felt thisway for over 3 years.