It was the perfect end to pre-season for Cronulla's Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale teams last weekend as they joined the NRLW and NSW Women's Premiership squads for an all-club training session.
With the female Junior Representative teams launching their 2026 campaigns against the Knights this Sunday, the session provided a timely opportunity for youngsters to soak up wisdom from NRLW stars and coach Tony Herman.
After introducing the initiative in 2025, the all-club assembly is set to become an annual tradition on the women's training calendar in February.
"It was great to see. We had over 100 girls there – 17s (Lisa Fiaola), 19s (Tarsha Gale), NSW Women's Premiership and NRLW," Herman said.
"We had girls from the NRLW squad flying in from Brisbane, Gold Coast and Melbourne, so it was great for them to be there and give the girls a bit of an idea around what Sharks footy looks like. Cronulla mentality is all effort, how the girls prepare and how they transition between drills and the standards that are expected at NRLW. It was great to give them a little insight into that.
"We saw a lot of girls at the end asking questions of the NRLW girls about their footy and how they work on different skills. I thought that was awesome because the girls are giving up their time, but for the young girls to have the confidence to ask those questions, it speaks a lot to the culture those NRLW girls are creating.
"We want to do this on that weekend every year. I think it's such a big part of our program. It gives those (Junior Representative) girls that little bit of excitement, a little bit of confidence that they are heading in the right direction. We're really looking forward to seeing what they do this weekend (in Round 1)."
While the NRLW season doesn't kick off until Thursday, July 2, Herman's troops are training as a group once a month (the maximum allowed at this time of year under RLPA rules) until their pre-season formally begins on Monday, May 11.
A trial against the Sydney Roosters will provide a platform for Cronulla's season-opening clash with the Newcastle Knights at Ocean Protect Stadium.
Last weekend's meeting was a chance for Herman to cast an eye over new recruit Najvada George, who has joined the club from the Cowboys on a one-year deal.
George will strengthen the Cronulla forward pack alongside fellow powerhouse signings Tegan Dymock (Bulldogs) and China Polata (North Queensland).
"It was good to see Najvada there interacting, understanding what it means to be a Sharks player, which I think is the first step," Herman said.
"China Polata is in England at the moment, so she wasn't there, but we're making a huge amount of contact with her. She's been looking at different parts of our footy and we've had some conversations around it. She's working really hard as well."
Only a field goal prevented the Sharks from beating the Roosters and advancing to their second-straight decider in 2025, but Herman isn't satisfied.
"We were one play away from a Grand Final after making the Grand Final the year before, so we're in and around it," the coach said.
"But we need to be better. We need to improve. The whole program needs to improve – I need to improve, player-wise we need to improve. So I think the girls are aware that we're achieving some things, but we haven't done what we set out to do. I think every side sets out to win a comp and we need to be the same.
"We know we've got to work a lot harder if we're going to achieve that goal."
