Cronulla team captain Paul Gallen arranged for a team meeting after Sharks training this week, the side putting in some poor sessions, in what seems like a hangover from the Manly belting at the weekend.
Gallen marshalled his troops into the Toyota Park sheds last night to try and hose down any panic following the 34-6 thumping by NRL front runners Manly.
The clash last week with Manly was seen as the big test for Cronulla, a match with finals-like intensity in front of a huge crowd with top spot on the ladder the spoils for the victor.
But in the end it was a major mis-match and the faltering Sharks ensured it was all but over after 30 minutes, the drubbing immediately raising concerns about what seems like almost yearly fade-out by the Sharks who have made a habit in recent years of squandering a useful position on the NRL Ladder in the leadup to the finals series.
Gallen did his best to take away the panic from his teammates, easing tensions that one loss to the NRL frontrunners does not mean the Sharks should choke again.
“We just seemed a little bit edgy during (the training session),” Gallen said.
“I just got the boys together after training a told everyone to relax a bit.
“I told them how it was going to be coming from everywhere how we choke and that and I told them what’s happened in the past has got nothing to do with our team at the moment.
“It’s only one game, we’re still 2nd on the NRL table. We’re embarrassed about the way we played.
“This is only a slight hurdle and we just need to go out there and win this Round now.”
Sharks prop Ben Ross said Cronulla rookies could turn the loss into a positive, the 80 minute lesson from the Sea Eagles provided a good idea of what the Sharks can expect in the big games later in the year.
Ross admitted the embarrassment of the Sea Eagles loss was still playing on his mind, and said he wasn’t surprised when tempers flared at training.
“A loss always weighs on your mind, especially with all the media giving it to us about (our poor late season record in) past seasons,” Ross said.
“It’s hard not to hear about it.
“I know how the boys are feeling at the moment, at training people’s tensions were shorter than normal because we did have a loss.
“It’s how you react to the loss … the boys are going to learn a lot from it.”
The Sharks were expected to take the field as selected against Newcastle on Saturday night with hooker Isaac De Gois training strongly after failing to finish the Sea eagles clash due to a rib complaint.