'Time to stand up': Sharks vow to repay loyalty

Sharks players have vowed to avoid a roster shake-up by repaying Craig Fitzgibbon's loyalty in Friday night's preliminary final agaisnt the Storm.

Cronulla are just one win away from a grand final appearance for the second successive year, but players and coaching staff are not satisfied after making the play-offs in each of Fitzgibbon’s four seasons in charge.

Under Fitzgibbon, the Sharks have had one of the most stable rosters in the NRL, with Cameron McInnes and Nicho Hynes joining the club in 2022 and Addin Fonua-Blake bolstering their forward strength this season.

Oregon Kaufusi, Billy Burns and Hohepa Puru are the only other players in the Cronulla squad recruited since Fitzgibbon's arrival.

However, star winger Ronaldo Mulitalo said the Sharks need to repay the loyalty shown towards them by Fitzgibbon and the club, despite beating the Bulldogs, Roosters and Raiders in consecutive weeks.

“We’ve been together for four years, and I think we all know if we don’t get something done or get moving, we’ll pay the price,” Mulitalo said.

“That’s how you lose players, and someone comes in to do a job. That’s what we get paid to do, and if you don’t get results, we know.”

Fitzgibbon said after Saturday night’s win in Canberra that the Sharks were ready to take the next step but acknowledged that questions would be asked if they don’t perform against the Storm.

“The only thing I can say is the boys are hungry, they’re making the right choices and decisions,” Fitzgibbon said.

“We’ve been together for that period of time now, I guess it’s time for us to stand up, or we need to make some changes, or we need to look at what we do and the way we do things.”

Mulitalo revealed how the players were doing everything possible to give themselves the best chance of winning the premiership and vowed to “keep my mouth shut” until the Sharks have earned bragging rights.

The New Zealand international scored his 100th NRL try in Saturday night’s emphatic 32-12 defeat of Canberra, the 2025 minor premiers, and they are now eying a grand final berth against either the Panthers or Broncos.

“No one is giving us a chance, there’s always excuses but that’s alright with us,” Mulitalo said. “For us, it’s about backing ourselves. We’ll just keep our heads down and keep working hard.

‘We haven’t done anything yet. We don’t get the right to speak about respect when we haven’t earned anything. We haven’t got a premiership together so how can you demand respect when you haven’t got a premiership.

“The four-time champions [Penrith] can do whatever they want because they have done that, but for us we have got to get the runs on the board. That’s how you earn respect, beating the best of the best."

Considered one of the best sledgers in the game, Mulitalo assured Fitzgibbon he would keep a lid on his verbal antics after Raiders forward Hudson Young was sinbinned for taunting Broncos fullback Reece Walsh after an error.

Walsh reacted by headbutting Young and both were sent to the sinbin in the epic 94-minute qualifying final at GIO Stadium, won 29-28 by the Brisbane.

“Everyone has been bringing me up saying I was going to stuff it up for my team. That’s why I shut my mouth a little bit [against the Raiders],” Mulitalo said.

“I told Craig, ‘Craig I won’t say anything stupid. I promise you,’ and he goes, ‘don’t f***ing do that’.”

Mulitalo is expected to play opposite Kiwis team-mate Will Warbrick, who only made his NRL return in the penultimate round of the regular season after a five-month lay-off with concussion related issues.

While the Sharks winger is renowned for his competitiveness, he is pleased to be going up against Warbrick.  

“It is good to see him back and that he is healthy,” Mulitalo said. “I am just real happy to see the big fellow back, he’s a world class player.”