The pressure is mounting on the out-of-form Cronulla Sharks after conceding 30 points for the fourth time in five matches and slipping further out of touch with the top eight, but coach Craig Fitzgibbon has ruled out any dramatic lineup changes.
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Fitzgibbon conceded next week’s bye, ahead of a crucial bout with the Dolphins on July 11, will come at the right time for a much-needed reset, after his side’s gallant but ultimately fruitless showing resulted in a 30-6 loss to Melbourne Storm at AAMI Park on Sunday.
Asked if he could shake things up by utilising halfback Nicho Hynes in the fullback role that he played as a premiership winner with the Storm, Fitzgibbon emphatically laughed off the suggestion.
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“No, he’s not playing fullback, no,” he said.
“That’s four or five years ago now.”
The Sharks attack rarely threatened the Storm defence.
Fitzgibbon conceded a number of the Sharks playmakers are down on form.
“We’ve got to get the best out of our best players and work hard at that,” he said.
“The execution of some things definitely was off today, but you can’t get everything in a week.
“We’ve got to smarten up pretty quickly.”
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Despite the concession of 30 points again, Fitzgibbon insisted it was a much improved defensive showing from the Sharks.
The Sharks spent a lot of time camped on their defensive line to good effect in the first half, but the dam wall eventually broke in the last 40 through the sheer weight of possession that Storm enjoyed.
“I don’t want to sit here and applaud that sort of scoreline but it was far better than what we dished up last week,” Fitzgibbon said.
“The hardest stuff that we were looking at and wanted to see improvements in [defensively], I thought it was a pretty even contest [in those areas] to be honest.
“Some, you know, I thought harsh moments or calls at the time gave them points they needed to get away with it in the end.
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“Little things on our part, our attention to detail when we are going like that, we need to improve that.
“As far as the defence and the scoreline, again it blows out, but I think we improved quite a bit.”
Fitzgibbon was pleased to hear that Sharks forward Teig Wilton will be called up into New South Wales Origin camp.
“Yeah, really good for Teigy,” he said.
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“We’ve missed him quite a bit this year, he’s sort of been in and out and he only got through half a game last week, but he showed what he’s about today.
“He’s an emerging leader for us as well, he’s got some attributes there and he’s an impressive young man.
“It will be a great accolade or him.”
