Turn that porch light off, Cronulla win will its maiden NRL title on Sunday afternoon.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
So says Orange CYMS captain-coach Mick Sullivan, who spent three seasons with the Sharks between 2003 and 2005.
The Sharks take on Melbourne in Sunday’s decider, where they’re looking to add to the only silverware the club has secured since its inception in 1967 – the 1979 AMCO Cup.
“There was always talk if the club did win one they’d close off the bridges to the shire and kick on for a week,” Sullivan laughed.
“I think they’re looking pretty good leading in. I’ve said a few times this year the Sharks are a bit of a poor man’s Melbourne but I actually think they’ve got a bit more to offer in attack than the Storm.
“You look at Melbourne and their guys out wide, they’re good but they’re not as dangerous as the Sharks’, they tend to score a lot of their points through the middle and I think Cronulla have the players to handle them through there.
“If Cronulla can click the way they did against North Queensland (in last weekend’s 32-20 preliminary final shellacking) then they’ll be very tough to beat.”
Sullivan highlighted Orange-born five-eighth James Maloney as the Sharks’ obvious match-winner, along with a couple of edge players who, in his opinion, sometimes fly under the radar.
“Maloney’s the obvious one. The Sharks always needed a pivot and now they’ve got one,” Sullivan said.
“But there’s guys like Luke Lewis and Wade Graham running on those edges who could be very dangerous in a game like this.”
During his time at Cronulla the Sharks’ best finish was seventh in 2005, although he missed the one final they played after a falling out with those above him.
“That was a bit of a bittersweet way to end my time there, but even though I played my first (first grade game) at the (Northern) Eagles I still say my career started at Cronulla, they were the club that really, truly gave me my shot,” Sullivan said.
“I really enjoyed my time there and I can say now my career probably would’ve developed more if I had’ve stayed at Cronulla.
“I played some of my best footy there, it was 2004 I think when I finished runner-up in the player of the year ranks and was second that year in try assists to Brett Kimmorley.”
He had a fair shock of hair while he was there too.
“That was when I actually could grow it out, so I did,” Sullivan laughed.
In the colour city’s other link to the grand final, recently crowned Dally M prop of the year Jesse Bromwich will line up for the Storm.
He spent some time with Orange Hawks in 2008.
The decider kicks off at 7.15pm.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
