Talking Footy

CRONULLA Sharks have a new training base in Sutherland Shire.

Cronulla High School is the venue for many of their training sessions, with two new fields.

As well there is the new club house, gymnasium and facilities will also act as headquarters for the new Sharks football academy.

Cronulla Sharks head coach Shane Flanagan said he will oversee the academy for the club's junior rep team and development squad players and coaches.

Flanagan told the Leader he's impressed with the facilities.

He said he cannot wait for the season to start and he's impressed with the attitude and approach of the players and the new staff.

Strength and conditioning coach Andrew Gray, who moved from the Dragons to the Sharks, is making a big impression.

"Andrew has been very good working with the players and the squad are training well," Flanagan said.

"He's pushing them and Andrew is doing good work here."

The Sharks have widened their full-time squad to 35.

Flanagan said veteran Luke Lewis had been one of the best trainers in the summer heat.

As reported in the Leader on Tuesday, Lewis is going nowhere and still has two years to run on his contract. Flanagan is right behind Lewis and what he brings to the club.

"Luke is a leader and a mentor to the younger players," Flanagan said.

Lewis is captain of the 18-man squad for the Auckland Nines on January 31 to February 1. Regular skipper Paul Gallen is rested from the Nines.

Lewis said he was excited about the year ahead.

"This is the first pre-season for a while that I have been injury free," said Lewis, 31.

"Last year I was getting over my shoulder reconstruction."

Lewis said he felt, fit, keen and happy at the Sharks.

"I am looking forward to the Nines and the experience of playing alongside the younger players this season," he said.


to broke to build your own & maintain it! do as the Titans have done go and train at the local school!

They have everything set up and geared towards junior footy with new state of the art facilities at a school, they own their own stadium and own a heap of land behind and surrounding the home ground and Leagues club, they have sold some land that is being redeveloped thus meaning they have quite a bit of bob in the bank. After all the years of being little brother in Sydney regarding more or less everything, they are all of a sudden finding themselves being right up near the big boys and well in front of a fair few. Good luck to them, that club has known struggle street like not too many before. It would be like you or I winning powerball and wondering what to do with it all.

LOL that is pretty funny them training at a high school sports ground.

Parras right though, they will be one of the wealthiest clubs in the NRL once the development is done. They will be earning money from multiple apartment rents as well as profits from all the shop leases too when the centre is built.

In addition to that, imagine the fillip the move will do for playing rugby league at that school with such facilities. The long term ramifications (unless the NRL introduce an AFL style draft) for the Sharks are exciting.

yeah the gummy sharks are rolling in the cash, so much so they have to share their facilities with a high school

Cronulla Sharks delivered out of debt by pizza entrepreneur Paul Ellams
A pizza shop owner has emerged as the mystery investor who has freed Cronulla of the bank debt that once threatened to ruin the club.

Fairfax Media can reveal a debt of about $3.5 million has been mortgaged to the superannuation fund of Paul Ellams to discharge a long-standing loan from St George Bank. The club's home ground of Remondis Stadium has been given as security.


Ellams is a Cronulla resident and Sharks supporter who recently negotiated the deal with club officials. The 60-year-old is a local businessman and developer who has run a number of companies, including a concreting business and a laundromat, which he has sold off in recent years. He is a friend of former Shimano boss John Dunphy, a local identity who considered running at the last board elections, and friends with several directors.

The identity of the mystery man has been a closely guarded by the club. However, Ellams spoke candidly about his involvement while on a fishing trip to Port Stephens. ''I've spoken to the new board about the club and which direction it's going to go,'' he said. ''I have a lot of faith in the club, and I thought we'd get rid of St George Bank and go forward from there. There were some business [discussions] with those guys, they make a few bucks, I make a few bucks, and that's as far as it went.''

Cronulla were on the brink of collapse when they owed the bank $14 million, and their future was at the mercy of the lender. However, an advance of $10 million from the long-awaited redevelopment of the Remondis Stadium precinct in August 2012 wiped almost a $1 million a year in servicing fees, as the average interest rate was about 7.5 per cent.

Fairfax Media has obtained documents that show Remondis Stadium has been mortgaged to KPE superannuation, the private super fund for Paul and Kym Ellams. While Ellams wouldn't go into the details, he said the deal was a win for himself and the club.

''The commercial terms are I have first mortgage over the building, that's it really,'' he said. ''It helps the Sharks, and I've got a finger in the pie, too. It works both ways. They scratch my back, and I scratch theirs. That's as far as it goes.''

Cronulla insiders have raised concerns about the club being beholden to an unidentified figure, given the proposal wasn't communicated to members before the deal went ahead. It also raises questions about what could happen to the Sharks and their home ground if the loan were to be called in.

''What are the risks and the penalties? There's no security or terms around the deal that have been communicated to members,'' a source said. ''There have been a few concerns about the lack of transparency.''

The extra financial strength will help the Sharks in their bid to keep star prop Andrew Fifita, who has been the subject of significant interest from rugby and rival NRL clubs.

While he has sold out of most of his business interests, Ellams remains the owner of Al's Pizza, Pasta and Ribs on Kingsway. ''It's better the kids work there than in McDonalds; they earn more money there,'' he said. ''We bought that for something to do, and all the kids work there and my mates work there as well. It's a bit of a sideline for the kids.''

The Sutherland Shire entrepreneur was confident the Sharks had a bright future on and off the field. ''They've got a good young side that will go all right this year,'' he said. ''I don't think they will win the premiership but if in the next couple of years they keep recruiting young people they will be fine.''

Twitter - @proshenks
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/rugby-l ... 33r59.html

Man you have more info about it than big league mag.

I know one thing though, the reason they are training at Cronulla high is because their training ground is where the development is being built.

My misses is a Cronulla girl and when we visited her folks down that way the other day. We saw the old training ground is a full construction site all boarded up with bulldozers going and all.

They have a terrible track record against my Sea Eagles too lol..

AFLsforPussies wrote:

Man you have more info about it than big league mag.

I know one thing though, the reason they are training at Cronulla high is because their training ground is where the development is being built.

My misses is a Cronulla girl and when we visited her folks down that way the other day. We saw the old training ground is a full construction site all boarded up with bulldozers going and all.

they are building it there as they don't have the money to build it himself!
yes they own the land and have sold it off to developers, but who is going to pay for the gummy sharks training venue

I think it will be paid by the development profits.

Lol, I'm an endeavour alumni and originally the sharks asked to use eshs as its base but got swiftly rejected.

Considering the NSW govt was and is still looking at shutting down a couple public high school s in the shire as there are too many for the region and many of them barely have enough students to fill classes, just another NRL club using govt funded facilities because they cant fund their own

I know alot of you AFL/ apparent Soccer fans would love to see the sharks fold, but it is not going to happen.
From what I have seen, they still have their following. Newcastle Jets or Melbourne Demons are probably more likely to fold than Cronulla.

Sharks are the only major sporting team the Shire has.
Who would fill the void if the Sharks folded, AFL can't and Football don't have the means to put teams there from what you tell me.
You would just have a whole area with no sporting team. The NRL just would not let that happen.

If Newcastle folded in the A League, they will still have the Knights at least. Cronulla would have nobody.

So good luck with you pipe dreams boys

sydneyfc wrote:

, just another NRL club using govt funded facilities because they cant fund their own

:_<> :_<> :_<>
this is the ONLY thing greasy wankerball does

the biggest pack of bludging filth there is in Australia
they don't own anything
& anything they have had built ..... was paid for by tax payers

but this sharks situation isn't uncommon anyway
the Brumbies did exactly the same thing .. setting up at the UC ( University of Canberra )
because they had to sell their facility at Griffith to pay off their debts
a Govt facility housing a private entity

they went one step further
they sponsored them too

that has now ended ... but that should never have been allowed to occur as that was taking it too far

If the Sharks are just renting some space at this school & paying for the set up & everything else
then theres absolutely nothing wrong with it
in fact its an income stream for the school & it will benefit from the extra cash.

another
nothing thread from dumbo
the King of Thread failure :_<> :_<>

AFLsforPussies wrote:

I know alot of you AFL/ apparent Soccer fans would love to see the sharks fold, but it is not going to happen.
From what I have seen, they still have their following. Newcastle Jets or Melbourne Demons are probably more likely to fold than Cronulla.

Sharks are the only major sporting team the Shire has.
Who would fill the void if the Sharks folded, AFL can't and Football don't have the means to put teams there from what you tell me.
You would just have a whole area with no sporting team. The NRL just would not let that happen.

If Newcastle folded in the A League, they will still have the Knights at least. Cronulla would have nobody.

So good luck with you pipe dreams boys

i don't want to see the gummy sharks fold, along with every other one of those NRL teams broncos aside, they are dead set jokes. glorified amateur shit shows, financially & minnow fan bases.

im waiting for the day to see all of those millions of NRL fans finally come out of the woodwork & support their teams

leagueiscrap wrote:

AFLsforPussies wrote:

I know alot of you AFL/ apparent Soccer fans would love to see the sharks fold, but it is not going to happen.
From what I have seen, they still have their following. Newcastle Jets or Melbourne Demons are probably more likely to fold than Cronulla.

Sharks are the only major sporting team the Shire has.
Who would fill the void if the Sharks folded, AFL can't and Football don't have the means to put teams there from what you tell me.
You would just have a whole area with no sporting team. The NRL just would not let that happen.

If Newcastle folded in the A League, they will still have the Knights at least. Cronulla would have nobody.

So good luck with you pipe dreams boys

i don't want to see the gummy sharks fold, along with every other one of those NRL teams broncos aside, they are dead set jokes. glorified amateur shit shows, financially & minnow fan bases.

im waiting for the day to see all of those millions of NRL fans finally come out of the woodwork & support their teams

at least they knew how to handle an ASADA investigation you stupid ch.u.nt :_<> :_<> :_<>


your mob can't claim the same can they dumbo :_<> :_<>

where'd yr team go dumbo

Leagueiscrap, how is the AFL doing in public schools in Victoria? Much recruiting there?

Foolproof wrote:

Leagueiscrap, how is the AFL doing in public schools in Victoria? Much recruiting there?

how the fuck would that cockhead know

he lives in QLD you ****** :_<> :_<> :_<>