The only member of the Cronulla Sharks roster to appear in an NRL Grand Final match, forward Oregon Kaufusi believes the club has what it takes to make it ahead of their Finals Week One match against the Melbourne Storm.
Sneaking into the top-four, the Sharks face the difficult task of taking on the Melbourne Storm in Melbourne to open up their 2024 NRL Finals campaign. But, if this season is anything to go by, they will be looking to upset their opponents away from home for the second time this year.
While they have continually been one of the best teams in the regular season underย Craig Fitzgibbonย over the past few years, the finals have been a different story.
Finishing ninth in 2021, they were defeated in back-to-back matches the following season in the finals and lost by one point to the Sydney Roosters in 2023 at their home venue.
As they attempt to change their luck, forward Oregon Kaufusi knows exactly what it means to play in the Grand Final, being the only member of the roster to do so - Nicho Hynes was named in a Grand Final team but never made it onto the field.
However, Kaufusi's stint at the Sharks hasn't been without its challenges. Struggling in his maiden season with the club in 2023, he has finally found consistency and has been one of their best forwards during the opening 30 minutes of matches.
"That's everything," Kaufusi toldย Zero Tackleย on making the Grand Final for the second time in his career.
"I feel like there's still more level to go (for me), but this season, I've been quite consistent in quite a few games, and my job is just to keep going at that level.
"It wasn't the way I wanted to start my debut season for the club so I guess it's just playing to what I know I can and just being consistent at it.
"It was a challenge (moving clubs) and sort of change of scenery. I was at Parra since development in Harrold Matts and it was sort of hard at first but I got myself used to it and been a pleasure since."
"He's under the radar," coach Craig Fitzgibbon said about Kaufusi.
"He's started most games for us this year, and he's had a couple of games where he's played the entire first half, so he's getting more mature with his footy and starting to realise what he's capable of...he's been strong for most of the year."
The Samoan international's bucket list also includes remaining with the Sharks beyond this season.
Kaufusi has a mutual option in his contract for next season but it has yet to be confirmed whether or not he will remain in the Shire or be on the lookout for a new club.
"The preference is to stay and keep playing with the boys," he continued.
A father of an 11-month-old, he credits his daughter and partner with helping him transition from the Parramatta Eels and is loving fatherhood.
"My daughter's kept me grounded. She's been awesome," he added.
"My partner's been awesome and it's just keeping me on my toes, keeping me an honest man and loving fatherhood.
"She's almost at the one-year mark, and it's been the best 11 months of my life. Hopefully I can pass on some experience that I've learned in the first year (to some of the future fathers on the team)."
