BY CURTIS WOODWARD

@woodward_curtis

On Tuesday afternoon, rugby league’s worst kept secret came to fruition. The Cronulla Sharks had punted head coach John Morris with immediate effect in preparation for Craig Fitzgibbon’s arrival in 2022.

As you can imagine, there is a lot of anger today in Sydney’s deep south.

You know what?

Fitzgibbon might end up being a better coach than Morris?

On Tuesday, Morris’ manager Chris Orr told SEN Radio that Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta had looked him square in the eye and promised him that the club had not met with any other potential coach and Morris was in ‘pole position’.

“I thought the meeting was a positive and productive meeting,” Orr said.

“John was able to convey his position and so was Dino. We walked away feeling very positive about the meeting.

“Obviously within the media circles it’s taken a different course but we walked away from that meeting quite positive.”

There’s a few trains of thought on this one.

Either Orr knew Morris was a dead man walking and was trying to throw shit at Mezzatesta and see what would stick.

The other is that Orr was telling the truth which would mean the Sharks were lying through their teeth.

Fact is, the Sharks had been in deep dialogue with Fitzgibbon and his management for a while. Cronulla always wanted the Roosters assistant who has completed his apprenticeship under one of the game’s best minds – Trent Robinson.

On Tuesday night, Cronulla confirmed Fitzgibbon’s signing on their website.

“The Sharks can announce they have secured the services of Craig Fitzgibbon as Head Coach of the Cronulla club for the 2022 season,” the statement began.

“Fitzgibbon, the NSW State of Origin and current Sydney Roosters assistant coach, has today agreed to terms on a three-year deal. He will assume the Sharks head coaching role beginning on November 1.”

“Following the announcement of Fitzgibbon’s appointment, John Morris will no longer coach the team, effective immediately, with current assistant coach Josh Hannay to take over the head coaching role on an interim basis for the remainder of the 2021 season.”

Much has been said about Morris’ inability to get his squad up for matches against the ‘big guns’ of the premiership. He has taken the Sharks to back-to-back finals series. The former Sharks utility, who surpassed 300 NRL matches while still playing at the club, had also cleaned up the salary cap mess he’d taken on from former boss Shane Flanagan.

Some rival fans would be jealous the Sharks are in a position where they can replace a coach that has done what he has and potentially strengthen their chances in 2022.

But the issue here is we are only five rounds into the 2021 season.

Five rounds!

According to Morris’ own mum, her son wanted to see his out his contract and coach his team for the remainder of the year.

“So dedicated so loyal. So disgusted that he was treated so badly by the board. Even though he knew they weren’t resigning [sic] him he wanted to finish out his contract. He loves his players and his staff,” Sharyn Morris wrote on Facebook.

Perhaps this is why the Sharks executed Morris when they did.

For as much as he loves his players and staff, the promising youngsters coming through love him just as much.

Some might call it extreme damage control.

The Sharks don’t want to lose any of the gun rookies coming up.

Certain players might see straight through Cronulla’s power play and hold off on re-signing with the Sharks anyway.

In the meantime, the club has replaced Morris with assistant Josh Hannay.

The Sharks might as well forget 2021.

If club officials are so confident in Fitzgibbon, why wouldn’t they let Morris finish out the year and give the team the best chance of playing finals footy… again?

@woodward_curtis