Having been bundled out of contention at the same stage in 2024, the Cronulla Sharks must stand up against the Melbourne Storm in Friday night’s preliminary final—or face the consequences.
That’s according to star winger Ronaldo Mulitalo who has warned the Sharks playing group of the importance of going one better than last season, when they bowed out in week three to eventual premiers Penrith, 26-6.
“We’ve been together for four years and I think we all know if we don’t get something done or get moving, we’ll pay the price,” Mulitalo told NRL.com
“That’s how you lose players and someone (else) comes in to do a job, that’s what we get paid to do and if you don’t get results, we know (what will happen)—we haven’t done anything yet.”
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For his part, Cronulla head coach Craig Fitzgibbon shared a similar message to Mulitalo after the 32-12 victory over minor premiers Canberra, acknowledging the job is far from complete despite two strong finals wins already in 2025.
“We’ve been together for a period of time now,” Fitzgibbon said.
“It’s time for us to stand up (against the Storm), or we need to make some changes, or we need to look at what we do and the way we do things.”
As the Sharks seek to return to the NRL grand final for the first time since claiming the 2016 premiership, one of the more intriguing match-ups will likely see Mulitalo line up against his New Zealand international teammate Will Warbrick who has only recently returned to the Storm line-up after a long and complex recovery from concussion.
“It is good to see him back and that he is healthy, he’s a world class player,” Mulitalo said.
The Sharks face the Storm at 7.50pm on Friday night at AAMI Park.