Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon saluted his side’s new-look spine as the Sharks brushed aside the Dragons in Thursday night’s derby clash.
The Sharks are looking good to mount a push for the top eight in the 2022 NRL campaign and Fitzgibbon was delighted with the performance in Wollongong.
Impressive spine
Much has been made of the form of Nicho Hynes following his arrival from the Melbourne Storm but fullback Will Kennedy, five-eighth Matt Moylan and hooker Blake Brailey are also catching the eye.
Fitzgibbon saluted them all after the game and believes this is only the start as they will only improve further.
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"The thing that I'm most happy about is how they work hard, they train hard, they play hard. They get involved in the game,”
Fitzgibbon told reporters.
"There are parts of their games we'll be able to improve on and work on and grow from. I don't think they're at where they are capable of being, but they're building nicely.
"I just love watching their effort. They just don't stop, they don't seem to get tired. That's what is the most pleasing thing about those guys."
Finucane hails coach
New coach Fitzgibbon is having a huge impact and captain Dale Finucane, who also arrived from the Storm in the off-season, was quick to point that out.
"Fitzy has brought in a bit of a different defensive system than the club has been used to in the past," Finucane said.
"So we're implementing new parts of the game that are new to the club, but we're developing quite well. It's still probably too early to say how we'll go in the back end of the year."
