Sharks treading water early on: Stuart - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Sharks treading water early on: Stuart

By Nicky Park 21/03/2010 02:40:41 PM Comments (0)

Coach Ricky Stuart fears Cronulla are in for another winter of discontent if the NRL battlers don't lift their game in a hurry.

It's only round two but Stuart is already running out of patience after the Sharks virtually handed the Warriors a 30-16 victory at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday night.

The dismal defeat - which featured one dropped ball after another - was Cronulla's 12th consecutive loss, dating back to their round-15 win over Brisbane last June.

"We're all really disappointed," Stuart said.

"We had really good preparation in to this game. We were quite confident in regards to what we started with last week in regards to our attitude and input in to the game to nearly get Melbourne.

"What we dished up there, in contrast, is completely unbelievable.

"We've got to start getting some wins because you don't want to be chasing early in the season.

"You cannot give an opposition that much football and expect to win. There's no team in the competition that can do that amount of tackling and win.

"There's going to be a long, long road if we're playing that type of ball control."

After recovering from 16-0 down to draw level just after halftime, the Sharks collapsed as the Warriors coasted to their first win of the season, thanks largely to a tryscoring hat-trick from big winger Manu Vatuvei.

"Why I get so cranky is for them, for the boys," Stuart said.

"I know how dejected they are and I know how disappointed they are because they train and work harder than what they delivered out there.

"That's why I get upset."

Stuart admitted that, just as winning is a habit, the Sharks had developed a losers' mentality.

"We worked a lot on self-belief this week," he said.

"We were real confident coming in to this game. I thought we'd be good. I thought we would be hard to beat.

"I feel for the players. But thank god they can tackle because the amount of ball that team had, they could have strung up 40 points."

Cronulla captain Trent Barrett conceded the Sharks were "our own worst enemy".

"We just kept giving them the ball back. We didn't give ourself a chance," Barrett lamented.

While the Warriors were stoked to earn their first two points of the season, coach Ivan Cleary was cautious not to get too carried away, especially after losing star halfback Brett Seymour to a broken thumb in the opening-round loss to Gold Coast.

Surgery ruled Seymour out of facing up against his former club on Saturday, and he'll be out for six to eight weeks.

Warriors five-eighth James Maloney and second rower Lewis Brown were placed on report for a first-half spear tackle.

The Warriors travel to Brisbane next weekend to tackle the Broncos, while the Sharks host fellow winless cellar dwellers South Sydney.

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