Gallen urges Sharks to avoid late blunders
February 22, 2012 18:55:58 UK
Cronulla Sharks skipper Paul Gallen has challenged his teammates to break the barrier of mediocrity in the 2012 NRL season and qualify for the finals after a drought of three years.
The Sharks leader was asked to speak at the club's season launching ceremony and instead of beating around the bush; he chose to talk business like he usually does.
Gallen believes that playing well for a large part of the game won't be enough and they would have to be at their very best for the entire match in order to find success this year.
The Sharks have a long history of losing their concentration in the dying stages of matches and Gallen wants to get rid of that unwanted habit.
Last week, they once again blew a trial match against Newcastle late in the game and Gallen pointed out they need to avoid such blunders and lapses.
Gallen recalled: "(It was) 18-all with 30 seconds to go and we let them score, which is a little typical of where we've been. Games like that aren't acceptable anymore. We've got to turn games like that into wins. Close enough isn't good enough for us anymore.
"It's never been my attitude and I don't know where it comes from but it's not the playing group's attitude either. We are here to win games. If we can do that (win tight games), we're going to be there at the back end of the year."
Cronulla are 13.00 to win the 2012 NRL Grand Final. Manly Sea Eagles can be backed at odds of 6.00, while Wests Tigers are available at 15.00.
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