‘Been ringing around’: Sharks cult hero managing himself as roster reality means ‘now or never’

“I have just been ringing around coaches and having a conversation and seeing if they’re keen.

“But the priority is to stay here (Sharks). I’ve loved every year I’ve had here and it can be a dangerous formula when you fix something that isn’t broken, but we’ll just see how the year plays out.

“It is a contract year but even playing in these years before, I’ve never really thought about it.

“Last year I wasn’t thinking about it and this year is the same. I’ll just let it happen as it happens. Let it unfold as it unfolds and let it be.”

However, Rudolf wouldn’t be drawn on which clubs he has been speaking to outside the Sharks and responded in typical hilarious fashion.

“Isn’t that too much of breaking story? Isn’t that too hectic? I’m too scared to say in case it gets blown up. I’m scared of you guys,” Rudolf said with a laugh.

The Sharks are one of the most consistent teams in the NRL and have made the last two preliminary finals, but haven’t been able to get over the hump.

And with 15 players coming off-contract in 2026, the Sharks are unlikely to be able to re-sign everybody, so there is a sense that this is the last chance for the current squad to win it all.

Helping their cause has been the arrival of one of the best forwards in the game last season in Addin Fonua-Blake and Rudolf has formed a formidable front row partnership with the star enforcer.

“He just brings a bunch of confidence for me,” Rudolf said.

“I speak to him before the game. I hope he doesn’t mind I’m sharing this, but I was like, what’s your mindset going into a game and he says to me, ‘I’m just going out there thinking that I’m the best front-rower out there’.

“And I’m like, wow, that is not what I think. I’m out there thinking this is going to be my last game. I’m not going to survive when I miss 100 tackles and not get picked.

“But to have that this year when I have my mindset, that’s just reassuring. You know he’s not going to stop. You know he’s going to have 20 carries every game. And he just gives you an edge of confidence that you didn’t have before he was here.”

Fonua-Blake finished the 2025 season with the most post contact metres of any player, ahead of even Broncos champion Payne Haas.

His ability to not only make tough carries into the teeth of the defence, but also bend the line and get his team on the front foot is what gives Rudolf confidence his halves are set for a big year in 2026.

“It’s more of a thing for the halves and they just love getting the ball after an Addin Fonua-Blake carry,” Rudolf said.

“It gets the line moving and gets the line retreating and having an attacking play with a bunch of people around you is a halfback’s wet dream, right?

“So that’s what he can deliver from a standing start. You seem like you are going nowhere and then he puts on a bit of footwork, breaks a few tackles, gets the ball moving and gets you moving down field.

“Then all of a sudden you have got Nicho Hynes on the back of that with Will Kennedy, Braydon Trindall and Blayke Brailey.

“I think we’ve been doing it for the last three years, but we just haven’t really capitalised at the key moments, so hopefully one more year together galvanises that and this is the year to do it.

“With 15 blokes coming off contract, it’s kind of now or never.”

Rudolf himself is coming off one of his better seasons in first grade, as he established himself as a regular starter alongside Fonua-Blake at the back end of the year.

However, the man himself believes he needs to channel his teammate and produce much more consistency in 2026.

“Not exactly, the good thing is from fan’s point of view and people that watch the game, you could say I had a good year because I played maybe the last six games at my best,” Rudolf said when asked if he was happy with his 2025 form.

“But there was another 10 games at the start of the year that were pretty average from my standard from where I’ve been in years gone by.

“2022 for me is the best year of my career. I missed three games and I was starting every game I played in and was punching out massive minutes.

“Where as I started last year, missed the first four games, played four average games, was out for another eight weeks, came back, had 10 games that were not very stand out.

“But then luckily finished the year strong, so I think I just want to put together a more complete year in 2026.

“Sitting on the sidelines, I find the older you get, the more it weighs on you because maybe you start thinking, oh, I’m getting older now, this is not as easy as it used to be.

“But I was happy with the back end of the season, so I just wanted some consistency through my footy and to have the last six games turn into 26 games.”

Over his six seasons at Cronulla since his NRL debut in 2020, Rudolf has scored six tries in 119 games and has blossomed from an X-factor bench player into a reliable and formidable starter.

Now turning 30 on the eve of the trials, Rudolf is one of the veterans of the Sharks team and considers himself a leader, but not in the traditional sense.

“I do see myself as a bit of a leader, but I don’t like the leadership style of talking and going through it,” Rudolf said.

“I’m more of lead by example type. I don’t think I have all the knowledge. I’m still learning myself. I don’t have the confidence to say to young kid, no, you’re doing this wrong, do this, this and this.

“My thing is making sure that everyone is connected with each other, making sure we’re all one team and everyone is showing a bit of love to each other, that’s where I focus my energy and I’m good at that.

“But in terms of technical stuff, that’s what the coach this for. I mean, I can show you the way, but in terms of actually breaking down a game and video and stuff, I’m not that kind of guy.”

One of the Sharks’ more traditional leaders in Nicho Hynes has been no stranger to criticism in recent seasons.

While some of it comes with the territory of wearing the No.7 jersey and some is unwarranted at times, the facts are the Sharks haven’t been able to ice the big moments in the last two prelims and often that comes back to the halves.

Rudolf admits seeing Hynes cop the blame for big match defeats hurts the squad, but it also brings the team together.

“We’re a very easy club to knock and we have got almost a scapegoat in our halves,” Rudolf said.

“Nicho’s always dragged through it for a lot of the wrong reasons. It’s disappointing for us to see, but in one way it unites us as well.

“I don’t see the negatives, obviously it’s easy to sell a paper doing it that way. But look, Nicho’s our leader and Tricky’s (Trindall) starting to emerge as one himself as well.

“So I think the fact that they have a bit more on their shoulders this year and they’re just as aware as us, this Premiership window closing.

“I think the biggest year is going to come from those two guys. I see them directing us around the park.

“I see them being able to execute the game plans that we’ve been given and I see them winning big games for us this year.”

Coach Craig Fitzgibbon is another Sharks figure that has copped his share of criticism over the team’s finals performances in recent years.

However, Rudolf defended Fitzgibbon in typical hilarious fashion when asked if he has brought anything new to this pre-season.

“He might have, but I don’t really pay attention that much,” Rudolf said with a laugh.

“But I don’t think Fitzy needs to bring anything else. It’s not his coaching that we’re lacking. It’s us. It’s our team. I think it’s about being more connected, about us showing more love for each other, that’s what I focus on.

“Don’t get me wrong, we’re a super connected bunch and we’ve got friends for life here. Eight of us have been together since 2019. There’s about five more lads that have been together since the 20s and SG Ball.

“So there’s a really big contingent of guys here that have played so much first grade together. “But to get over the hump, that’s where Fitzy earns his money, so you will have to ask him.”

The Sharks have one of the most settled team’s in the competition going into 2026, with no new recruits and only Daniel Atkinson and Kade Dykes leaving the club.

Meanwhile, young skipper Blayke Brailey is coming off a Kangaroos tour and will have learned plenty from the likes of Harry Grant and the other Australian stars, but Rudolf is not so sure.

“From a free holiday?” Rudolf joked when asked if Brailey has improved as a leader and player from the Ashes Tour.

“Kevvie didn’t give him a game. Did he get some knowledge from travelling around Europe? I mean I think he knows where all the good cafes are, as opposed to footy.

“But seriously Blayke’s a pretty unspoken and he is our captain and leader as well and it’s funny, he’s very unassuming in a way.

“He’s starting to talk a lot more since he’s been given that role, but in terms of extra knowledge, Blayke just needs to keep doing what Blayke does best, running that ball, dipping his shoulder and leading by example.

“If he does that, then he’s going to be the best No.9 and captain that we can have for the job.”

The Sharks look primed for another tilt at the top four and the title in 2026, but will begin the year without two of their best players in Ronaldo Mulitalo and Cameron McInnes due to serious knee injuries.

However, Rudolf is confident the Sharks have the squad mentality to fill the void until their star veterans return.

“I want to go a little left field for the wing and say Liam Ison,” Rudolf said when asked who will fill Mulitalo’s spot.

“I can see him getting some games and doing some crazy things with the footwork he possesses.

“He’s coming off an ACL as well. He’s obviously a bit further ahead than them. He’s at 12 months, so I can see him doing something. The other obvious choices are Sam Stonestreet and Mawene Hiroti.

“And then in the absence of McInnes, Jesse Colquhoun did it last year, so I just see him slotting straight in there.

“Who knows, maybe I’ll get the No.13 on my back and do some ball playing for once in my career.

“I was a lock at the start of my career, but I don’t think I ever f***ing passed it. I think prop is more my go.”

Rudolf’s humour never stops shining through, but he is more serious when discussing the Sharks’ premiership chances.

And he knows if they can’t get past the prelim this season, it could be the last chance for the team in its current form.

But a powerful piece of symmetry is looming 10 years on from the club’s maiden title and Rudolf and his teammates are acutely aware that their time is now.

“It would be pretty special and I think it’s poised right now,” Rudolf said.

“We’re sitting in this unique Premiership window and I think we are aware of it now. It’s not going to be around forever.

“I think it’s also interesting how it’s ten years after the Sharks won it. So 2026, 2016, who knows, maybe 666 is the Sharks number.”