The Cronulla Sharks continued their hard work off the field to kick off 2015.
The Sharks attended community events, football clinics and featured in team events such as the ‘Sharks Patrol’ & a members open training session.
See below some of the key events the club and players have supported during the month of January:
Community Events
· Ben Barba, Michael Gordon, Chris Heighington, Wade Graham & Matt Prior attended the Australian Boardriders Battle event at Cronulla over the Australia Day long weekend. The players were VIP guests before taking part in the celebrity beach touch football event on the sand.
· A majority of the Sharks NRL squad kicked off their first Sharks Patrol for 2015, visiting Southgate, Sylvania. The players roamed the centre on a busy Saturday morning greeting members and fans. The players took time on their day off to sign autographs & pose for photos with young and old.
· Luke Lewis, Paul Gallen, Chris Heighington, Wade Graham, Michael Gordon & Jeff Robson supported the Cronulla Sharks Australia Day celebrations at Anzac Oval Engadine. The players attended in 2 groups and were located by the Sharks merchandise van & membership stall signing autographs for fans. Despite the weather the players were kept quite busy signing autographs.
· Paul Gallen made a special visit to the King Wan Chinese restaurant, situated inside of Sharkies Leagues club on the day of his boxing bout. Gallen surprised 93 year old Birthday girl, Norma Miller who is a huge fan and member of the Sharks. Gallen presented Norma with a signed Sharks Jersey and thanked her for the long term support and loyalty she has shown the club. The surprise came as a shock to Norma who was not expecting the Sharks captain to gate crash the celebrations.
Junior Rugby League
· Paul Gallen hosted Hills Bulls District Junior Rugby League under 6’s team down at Remondis Stadium. The Bulls were lucky recipients of a money can’t buy experience. Gallen ran the 2.5 hour visit on his own showing the kids around the Stadium including the gym, football offices, dressing rooms and the field before running the kids through some skills and drills.
Touch Football Australia
· Andrew Fifita, Jayson Bukuya & Anthony Tupou helped out with Touch Football Australia’s, Youth Trans-Tasman skills clinic at Remondis Stadium. The 20 kids who participated in the clinic had the opportunity to meet the Sharks players after fine tuning some of their skills and drills with the ball.
· Nu Brown, David Fifita, Sam Tagataese, Tinirau Arona & Valentine Holmes were on hand at Touch Football Australia’s Celebrity Game on Day 2 of the tournament. The players tested some of their skills on the field while some took a backward step and assisted with the coaching.
For the 2015 season, which commenced upon the November return to training for the NRL squad, the Cronulla Sharks have achieved 454 hours in the community, across 194 appearances.
The Sharks will now heavily focus their attention on the annual local & regional community carnival during the month of February.
