Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon has questioned the disjointed nature of Ashley Klein’s officiating, claiming there was only 22 minutes of ball-in-play action in the first half.
Speaking after his side’s 22-14 preliminary finals loss to the Storm, the Cronulla coach made it clear he believed Craig Bellamy’s men were the better team on Friday night.
However, Fitzgibbon was asked about the 18 penalties that were blown in the game and immediately aired his frustration.
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“Mate, if that’s a prelim and you want a grand final to have 18 penalties… I am not sooking about the ref, the better side won today,” Fitzgibbon said.
“Melbourne were the better side today, hands down. But I think the first half was 22 minutes of ball-in-play. What are we doing for a prelim?
“What do the fans want? We want to see ball-in-play, let’s go. We go, you go and then we find out. But the better side won today, so I can’t complain.
“The calls were, some of those warranted on us, but it’s a lot for this time of year for our game.”
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Fitzgibbon was also pressed on whether his team were able to prepare for a “stop, start” style of contest.
“No, you can’t,” he said.
“It’s frustrating but what do you… I just, yeah. What do you do? You can’t recall bad calls or whatever, I don’t know.
“But it’s just too many, it’s not what we need. Why does that happen? Is that on the teams? Is it on us? Is it on them? Or the ref, I don’t know. I haven’t had time to review it.
“It just sucks sitting here talking about it, but I also think Melbourne were better than us today so I can’t blame the officiating on that, no way.”
Sharks skipper Blayke Brailey added: “Yeah, these things you can’t control. (It’s) out of our hands, but yeah obviously we came with a plan to go live and we didn’t get that chance.”
“Credit to Melbourne… they took their opportunities when they got them.”
Overall, it was an impressive season from the Sharks, who were only one win away from a grand final appearance.
In 2024, Cronulla reached the same stage of the finals, but were convincingly bested by the Panthers 26-6.
“I will tell you this, we are in a better position than we have ever been. We are not getting worse,” Fitzgibbon said.
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“There’s more signs of life than I have been comfortable with in the last few years, we are not going away.
“You have got to get better and at the end of the day there’s only two teams who get there, and we fell short again.
“But it’s not through a lack of effort or attitude.”
The Sharks coach was also confident his side will be able to join the elite teams in the NRL in years to come.
“The Storm understand what it means to be a great side, I think we are a really good side who haven’t converted to become a great side,” he said.
“That’s what these pressure moments and situations are about. We just missed the start and their freshness and physicality got the better of us.”
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