Sometimes the last step of the journey to a premiership is the longest, and for Cronulla it seemingly gets longer all the time.
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it → get → Cronulla
It was a year that marked their fifth finals series in a row and the fourth of those five years that have gone to the second week or beyond.
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that → mark → week
That's a hard thing to do and there's been a run of consistency under Craig Fitzgibbon that fans of many other clubs would wish for desperately.
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fans → do → clubs
They've played more finals games in these past five seasons than Gold Coast and Wests Tigers have in the past 20 years combined.
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Coast → play → years
But with the Sharks the granting of that wish came with a curse, like it was made on a monkey's paw.
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it → come → paw
They are always in the mix but never seem to rise right to the top.
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They → seem → top
They are good enough to be on the raggedy edge that separates triumph and tragedy but when it counts they can't quite end up on the right side.
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they → separate → side
They know exactly what a premiership calibre team looks like because they get up close and personal with at least one of them nearly every year.
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they → know → them
They would do anything to be like them but that glorious fate proves elusive.
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fate → do → them
This defeat to the Roosters gives them one win and five losses against top four teams in the finals since the start of 2022, with the sole victory coming over the battle-weary and depleted Raiders in Canberra last year.
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victory → give → Canberra
They were already outsiders going in and the job got that much harder when Nicho Hynes was knocked out of the game after just three minutes.
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Hynes → go → minutes
Rookie Niwhai Puru did his best in relief and talismanic five-eighth Braydon Trindall did his best to carry the weight of the world, which is hard enough even when you don't have a busted shoulder.
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you → do → shoulder
Trindall set up both their first half tries to keep them in the match and kept trying every trick he knew, working a lovely run around with Billy Burns in the second half that very nearly lead to a score of his own.
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that → set → own
Only a late tackle from Billy Smith forced the ball free and stopped it from being 24-16 with 25 minutes to go.
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tackle → force → minutes
A dodgy ruck penalty on Angus Crichton and a Mark Nawaqanitawase try followed, and from there it was a procession as the Roosters ran up the score with a cavalier cruelty, showing attacking gears and a raw brilliance that Cronulla does not possess.
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Cronulla → follow → that
Few teams do, because few teams have players like Nawaqanitawase, who scored a fine double and helped set up another try with a behind-the-back pass that he threw as he was thrown over the sideline.
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he → do → sideline
The dual international got so close to one of the TV cameras it's a wonder he didn't up in your living room as Connor Watson finished off one of the tries of the season.
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Watson → get → season
By the end, as Daly Cherry-Evans and Robert Toia added to their highlight reels to warm up for a preliminary final blockbuster against the Dolphins next week, the Sharks looked outmatched and outgunned.
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Sharks → add → Dolphins
They were stuck in a fight where the weapons that serve them so well during the regular season — namely, a deliberate and consistent attack that converts pressure into points —were no longer enough.
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that → stick → points
On average, Cronulla run in their tries from a closer distance than any other team in the league.
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Cronulla → run → league
They had just five tries from inside their own half all season, the fewest of any team in the league.
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They → have → league
They move up the field and execute well from close range to punch it in and they are good enough at it that only three teams scored more points through the regular season.
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teams → move → season
They play the percentages well and they minimise risks and that is good enough nearly every single week of the season until it isn't anymore.
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it → play → season
There is a chance for Cronulla to revamp themselves over the summer.
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Cronulla → be → summer
Sione Katoa, a fixture of the side for almost a decade, who brought up a century of tries for them last week, is off to the Cowboys.
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who → bring → Cowboys
He'll be joined up there by Jesse Ramien, while powerful utility Siosifa Talakai is off to Perth and lock forward and former skipper Cam McInnes is heading even further away, bound for Super League side York.
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McInnes → join → York
For a team that has been extremely stable in recent years, often only losing one or two players per season, it's a lot of changes all at once.
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it → lose → changes
They don't want to rebuild, which is understandable, and most of the changes will come by promoting youngsters already at the club but it gives them the opportunity to retool a little and perhaps refresh a lot and maybe whatever changes they land on can give them the final push they need.
A little more speed wouldn't go astray, nor would some extra creativity outside the spine but wherever the change comes from it will be welcome.
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it → want → wherever
There is talent at Cronulla and tenacity and a clear and shining will to succeed, otherwise they wouldn't make the finals every year.
But to win under the brightest of lights against the best of opponents they need to find something extra, something that is missing right now, something they have not yet found but are desperately seeking.
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they → be → something
They must believe it's out there, whatever it is, because it is their deliverance.
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it → believe → ?
It is the thing that will take them on that last step, the one they have been trying to take for half a decade now, the one that will give them that which seems so close for so much of the year but every September seems to elude their grasp.
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September → take → grasp
The Aporia
