By Tallon Smith

The Shellharbour Sharks have advanced to the Group 7 grand final with a 17-16 upset win over Stingrays in the preliminary final at Cec Glenholmes Oval on Saturday.

Despite scoring two tries to the Stingrays’ three, the Sharks’ perfect kicking record and the addition of two penalty goals saw them draw level at 16-all, allowing halfback Isaac Morris to step up and nail a match-winning field goal.

Sharks captain James Ralphs said that the win carried extra meaning for his side, after their local rivals beat them to secure the minor premiership three weeks ago.

“It means a lot, it meant a lot to everyone involved, especially after the way the [regular] season finished,” he said.

“But as we all know, you can’t win a competition that soon, and we just rallied around that, used it as motivation to come out and do what we did on the weekend.

“I think you can see by the reaction after the game, everyone was just super stoked and over the moon to get the win and to move on to this week.”

When asked about the week’s build-up to the highly anticipated decider at Albion Park on Sunday, Ralphs said that “there’s no better feeling” in the game.

“I’ve been lucky enough to do it once already and win back in 2018 at Shellharbour,” he said.

“We’ve even got guys who have retired, stopped playing, guys from that premiership team in 2018 coming down on Saturday [and] we’re going to do a captain’s run.

“It’s just really special to be a part of.”

Sharks coach Abed Atallah said that Sunday’s win was “massive” for the club and its supporters.

“There was a fair bit on the line, grand final spot, local derby,” he said.

“Obviously every team sets goals, and being [there] on [grand final] day, is something that we’ve aimed for, so yeah, it’s good to achieve that.

“It was massive for the whole community.”  

Regarding this Sunday’s upcoming grand final clash with Gerringong, Atallah said the side were ready for the “challenge” ahead.

“They’re always good football games, us and Gerringong, it’s usually a fast tempoed game, they’re usually really clean games as well,” he said. 

“They’re actually really good contests, and all three of them this year have been very similar like that. 

“We’re looking forward to going out there again on the weekend and challenging ourselves and our game.”

Grand final day on Sunday sees Gerringong feature in all three grades, with the Lions facing Warilla in the under 18s, Kiama in reserves, and then Shellharbour in first grade, with the main game slated for a 3pm start at Centenary Field. 

Cover image courtesy of Adam McLean, Illawarra Mercury.