Cronulla Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon might have been responsible for bringing star recruits Nicho Hynes and Dale Finucane to the Shire during his first season with the club, but the pressure is about to be turned up on the rookie.
Fitzgibbon, who served his apprenticeship under master coach Trent Robinson at the Sydney Roosters, is staring down the barrel of numerous players being off-contract at the end of 2022.
All of Jayden Berrell, Andrew Fifita, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Mawene Hiroti, Royce Hunt, Matt Moylan, Briton Nikora, Franklin Pele, Aiden Tolman, Jack Williams and club captain Wade Graham are off-contract at the end of the year, while star of the future Luke Metcalf has already signed on with the New Zealand Warriors.
Development players Kade Dykes, Jonaiah Lualua, Jack Martin and Ryan Rivett will also be searching for contract upgrades.
The Sharks have also already added Oregon Kaufusi to their squad for 2023.
While it's unclear which players Fitzgibbon will want to retain, Fitzgibbon told AAP that they are "trying to stick to a plan" which calls for calmness, but also admitted it could be difficult to keep everyone.
"We're trying to stick to that plan and talk to some guys we want to keep around," Fitzgibbon told AAP.
"It's important not to overreact to anything at this stage. We're stable and hopefully the environment ... allows the players to want to stay and play for the Sharks.
"We want to be competitive and try not to lose our own players, but it can get very hard in the marketplace."
Youngsters Royce Hunt and Braden Hamlin-Uele, as well as gun second-rower Briton Nikora and lock forward Jack Williams are likely to be the priorities, however, the experience of Moylan, Tolman and Fifita could yet throw a spanner in the works for the Sharks retention and recruitment department as they attempt to continue strengthening the team.
The Sharks missed the finals in 2021 after letting coach John Morris walk out the door early in the season.
Really!
Jayden Berrell hasn’t played any first grade yet.
Franklin Pele has played 16 minutes of first grade
No disrespect to either player, but I guarantee Craig Fitzgibbon won’t be losing sleep worrying if either of them is going to be poached.
At the end of the season:
Andrew Fifita ($850K) will be 33 and will retire.
Wade Graham ($750K) will be 32 and will retire or take a big pay cut.
Matt Moylan took a big pay cut this year but his agent doesn’t seem to have generated any interest elsewhere.
Aiden Tolman ($not much) will be nearly 34 and there won’t be much competition for him.
Braden Hamlyn-Uele, Royce Hunt, Mawene Hiroti, Briton Nikora and Jack Williams are the five that Fitzgibbon will need to worry about. However he will have $2 million freed up from Fifita, Graham and Moylan, so I think he will not be too worried.
Yes, I can see he doesn’t want to alienate half the squad before the season has even begun, but don’t think he has a crisis to manage.