Sharks left to reflect on what might have been

Seventy points conceded in two weeks.

That’s the galling number that Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon will stew on in the off-season as he ponders how a superb body of work constructed between March and August could be snuffed out so swiftly in September.

The Sharks’ climb from ninth to second in Fitzgibbon’s maiden season at the helm was built around the sublime skills of Nicho Hynes and Matt Moylan and a resolute defence that gave up just 15 points per game across 25 rounds.

Until their two finals against the Cowboys and Rabbitohs, they had not lost back-to-back matches all season, and the 38 points Bunnies ran past them was the most they conceded in any game.

It could have been a very different story had the Sharks prevailed in the 93-minute epic in week one but the defensive frailties exposed at PointsBet Stadium were again on show against Souths as 99 tackles were missed across the two games.

“That defence for semi-finals just wasn’t not good enough. I won’t be finishing this year feeling happy, I just want to get on to next year and improve it,” Fitzgibbon said after the 38-12 loss to the Rabbitohs.

“We were shuffling the decks with different combinations in the last eight weeks, no consistency at training with guys in and out, but there’s no excuses, you know who you are and who know how you want to play.

“It has been a thoroughly rewarding season on the whole, but it just doesn’t feel like it at the moment.”

Once the dust has settled and the disappointment subsides, the Sharks mentor will be able to reflect on season that included wins over the Eels, Storm, Cowboys and Rabbitohs, and catapulted Hynes into the ranks of the NRL’s elite playmakers.

Hynes had played halfback only once in 36 games at the Storm, but it was clear from his very first outing in Canberra that Fitzgibbon had pulled the right rein in handing him the reins.

"We tried a few different combinations in the pre-season but Nicho and Matt gelled very well," Fitzgibbon said after Hynes had landed an ice cool conversion to get the Sharks home over the Eels in Round 2.

"Their work ethic is tremendous and they are involved in everything and that's what you want out of your halves. It's still early for their connection but has it formed pretty quickly.

“I’ve always believed in Matt as a player and I was confident Nicho had played enough half growing up to do the job. You don't forget how you've grown up playing footy and the position you were in, he just had to put in a big pre-season working on the fundamentals of the halves role."

That faith was rewarded in spades as Hynes piled on 21 try assists, 21 forced dropouts and 29 line break assists alongside the rejuvenated Moylan, who contributed 12 try assists and 15 line breaks.

Enjoying his first injury-free season since 2018, Moylan reminded the rugby league world of the talent that earned him Origin and Test jerseys in 2016, tormenting defences with his slick footwork to chalk up 65 tackle breaks.

As the Hynes-Moylan combination blossomed so did the tryscoring tallies of fullback Will Kennedy, wingers Ronaldo Mulitalo and Sione Katoa and edge forwards Teig Wilton and Briton Nikora, all of whom are back on deck in 2023 as the Sharks go in search of a second premiership.

The loss of Katoa to a season-ending pectoral injury with seven rounds remaining was a cruel blow, the 25-year-old crossing for 14 tries in 16 games and busting 73 tackles before his absence forced Fitzgibbon into one of those "deck shuffles" he was left to lament last Saturday.

An ankle injury cost Kennedy five games late in the season but came with the silver lining of a debut for Kade Dykes, who looks to have a bright future at the club his father Adam represented with distinction on 183 occasions in the 90s and 2000s.

Former rugby sevens star Lachie Miller was another find for the Sharks, running for an astonishing 294 metres and breaking nine tackles on debut against the Titans in Round 11. He also produced a slashing 198 metres and 12 tackle breaks against the Knights in the final round of the regular season as the Sharks locked up second spot and two bites of the finals cherry.

History will show they went agonisingly close to a win in week one that would have catapulted them into a preliminary final and earned them a week off, before the dam wall broke and the Bunnies ran riot in a defeat completely out of character with everything else the Sharks served up in 2022.

"If you look at our season we defended well all year but the game's quite brutal and it can humble you," skipper Wade Graham said post-match.

"We missed the mark as a team and at this level, at this time of year, you only need to miss the mark by a little bit and you pay for it, and we paid for it two weeks in a row.

"We had two scorelines in the finals over 30 and you're not going to win a regular season game let alone a semi-final when it's all on the line... ultimately we didn't perform and we got bundled out."