Match Details
Match Date	2nd Sep, 2018
Opponent	Cronulla
Result	Loss 18-30
Coach	Dean Pay
Captain	Josh Jackson
Venue	Homebush (ANZ Stadium)
Crowd	14,189
Referee	Grant Atkins Chris Sutton

Just before June 30, the Sharks wanted Aaron Woods but were haggling over the final details of the freight they would pay the Bulldogs. It was tens of thousands, not hundreds of thousands. The Bulldogs were stuck between a rock and a hard place and eventually caved.

This week when the microscope was firmly on the Sharks and a self reported salary cap anomaly stemming from 2015, they assured us they had more than $500,000 to spare in this year’s cap.

If you want to know how stingy Cronulla can be at any time of year, let alone when the finals are on the horizon, look no further than the wrangle over Woods’ wages.

It’s why they’re the team that should have the other seven finalists shuddering. They just don’t give anything away, dollars or defence.

Next week, they play the Roosters, who finished minor premiers after a zany final round. They’re painting themselves as underdogs despite no team in the NRL enjoying a run of results like the Sharks, who have won their last four.

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan fired back ‘‘no’’ when asked if his was the form team. He and the rest of his troops seemed intent to talk up the other teams in the top four, including their next opponents.

‘‘They’ve got all the names in their side and we’ve just got to turn up and do our job,’’ Sharks co-captain Paul Gallen said after their 30-18 win over the Bulldogs. ‘‘I’m not going to say form goes out the window, but it’s a new competition next week.’’

Which will go a bloody long way to winning it all. Yesterday, Woods played his old club which was his new club a few months ago. He led Sharks forwards for metres made and tackles made. It was remarkable in an otherwise unremarkable performance from the former Australian and NSW forward.

But that’s exactly why many good judges will say the Sharks are quietly firming as the team to beat in a season of many twists and turns.

Asked if he was excited to play in his first finals since 2011, Woods said: ‘‘What do you reckon? It’s unreal to be where we are, especially the way we started the year at the Dogs. To have the chance to come here with everything that has happened has worked out pretty well. It’s fun going in every day and learning off the blokes which has probably made the transition easier.’’

Just like last week and the week before and the week before that, Valentine Holmes showed why he’s the reason the Sharks are capable of going deep into September for the second time in three years. He scored one and set up three in the Sharks’ five tries-to-three win.

His coach last week vowed to sell a floor of the leagues club to keep the club’s new record-holder for most number of tries in a season. But the Cowboys are poised to sign his old teammate Ben Barba to a one-year deal which ends in 2019 – when Holmes is due off contract.

The Sharks have shelved all contract talks until the end of season. Told Holmes could become a club great, Gallen joked: ‘‘We’ll call him a club great when he signs a new four-year contract hopefully.’’

But the Bulldogs weren’t laughing about Cronulla’s premiership mettle after nipping at their heels all afternoon. ‘‘It’s going to be a great contest,’’ Canterbury coach Dean Pay said of the Sharks-Roosters clash. ‘‘The Roosters are playing good footy as well, but I think the Sharks are going to be hard to beat. They’ll be up there.’’

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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