New boy ‘Wright’ at home

Former Bulldogs and Parramatta Eels outside back Jonathan Wright officially became a Shark when he joined the team at pre-season training this week.

Given an extended break by coach Shane Flanagan due his appearance in the 2012 Grand Final, Wright looked at home in Sharks colours as the full squad went through its paces on the outside fields at Toyota Stadium on Tuesday.

A prolific try-scorer for the Bulldogs and a player who can fill either the centre or wing positions, Wright used his vacation time to take an overseas holiday to Thailand with his wife.

Despite spotting his new teammates a weeks head start Wright more than held his own at Tuesday’s session and appears certain to become an important part of Flanagan’s plans for the Sharks in 2013.

With new strength and conditioning coach David Boyle taking charge, the entire Sharks squad minus only those players who are still recovering from off-season surgery or recovering from injury, completed a series of conditioning drills.

New boys Beau Ryan and Michael Gordon looked particularly sharp, while Nathan Gardner was running freely again after making a full recovery from last season’s knee reconstruction.

Pre-season, which will include gym, beach and revolutionary Zuu Fit sessions, will continue through until the week prior to Christmas when the boys will be given a two week break until the New Year.

After returning to the training paddock early in January the Sharks will then look forward to the pre-season trials against Manly on February 8 and the Knights on February 23.