Tallon Smith
The Shellharbour Sharks remain in the top five at the halfway mark of the Group 7 season after picking up a 20-point win over sixth-placed Berry-Shoalhaven Heads at the Berry Showground on Saturday.
The Sharks ran in four tries to one for a 24-4 victory, putting them three points clear of the Magpies in fifth place on the competition table following nine rounds of play.
Shellharbour coach Abed Atallah was pleased that his side was able to collect the two competition points in what could prove a crucial away game later in the season, and praised two of his forwards for their efforts amongst a strong team performance.
“It is always a tough place to go and play footy at, so for us after the week off it was just good for us to go down there, get the two points and get out of there,” he said.
“I thought Wil Patison and Hudson Bailey in the middle of the field did a really good job, which allowed our halves young Baxter [McDonald] and Ruddy [Harry Rudd] to kind of dictate things a little bit.
“I think all round it was a pretty good team performance.”
The Sharks opened the scoring through Baxter McDonald in the third minute, and doubled their advantage when Harry Rudd hit winger Jacob Seabrook who dived over in the corner to make it 12-0 at the quarter mark of the match.
The Magpies hit back on the verge of half time when Sonny Jamieson scooped up a deflected kick from Seabrook and raced away, before linking with Cooper Barrett who found Sam Hood to complete a remarkable team try and reduce the gap to eight at the break
However, that was where the comeback ended, with the Sharks running in two more tries in the second half to reach the 24-4 scoreline.
Sitting on the edge of the five with a 5-3-1 record, the Sharks have had an inconsistent start to the season following the loss of a number of experienced players over the off-season.
However, with the young side continuing to improve and a number of injured players set to return to the club’s line-up in the next few weeks, Atallah expects things to improve for the Sharks.
“[We have been] a little bit up and down, but we will start to get some troops back over the next couple of weeks, which will definitely help,” he said.
“For us, it’s continuous improvement, and we have got a lot of younger blokes in the squad, so the more opportunities and game time they get leading into the back end of the year is going to be important.
“It’s [about] just trying to maintain health as we get towards the back end of the year.”
As for whether the Sharks are paying attention to the ladder, Atallah said he is not overly concerned with the standings at this stage of the season.
“That’s not our focus at the moment, our focus is just on ourselves and just continuing to get better each game, the ladder will take care of itself in that regard,” he said.
“There is still half a season of footy to go, so there’s plenty more changes that will happen to that ladder.”
Next up for the Sharks is a showdown with Jamberoo at Kevin Walsh Oval, which picked up its third win of the season 26-18 over Milton-Ulladulla.
Despite the Superoos being positioned two places below Shellharbour, Atallah said the Sharks won’t be taking their opponents lightly as they prepare for a third straight away game.
“Jamberoo are a pretty tough team, they’re in games up to their eyeballs most of the time, so we are expecting a pretty tough challenge down there at Jamberoo.”
In other results from round nine, Albion Park-Oak Flats continued its unbeaten run with a 30-16 victory over defending premiers Kiama, Gerringong outlasted Nowra-Bomaderry 28-18, and Stingrays defeated Warilla 56-0.
