Sharks do it for McInnes after ‘heartbreaking’ injury
Jasper Bruce |
Toby Rudolf says a “heartbreaking” season-ending injury to captain courageous Cameron McInnes could have broken Cronulla’s NRL premiership tilt.
Instead, the Sharks playing group say they’re dedicating their unlikely run through the finals to their sidelined skipper.
McInnes left the round-24 defeat of Gold Coast with a knee injury which scans later confirmed as an anterior cruciate ligament rupture.
Following a patchy start to the season, the Sharks appeared to have been hitting their stride at the time of their captain’s untimely injury.
With finals only a matter of weeks away at the time, Rudolf said the blow left the Sharks at the crossroads.
“He’s someone you can’t replace. I sort of said when it first happened that it’s either going to galvanise us or it’s going to tear us apart,” he told AAP.
“So far it’s made us a stronger unit.”
The Sharks have not lost since, locking up fifth place on the ladder and then ousting the Sydney Roosters and Canberra from the premiership race during finals.
But it has been challenging for the Sharks to push on to a grand-final qualifier without defensive anchor and inspirational leader McInnes.
Across 226 NRL games, McInnes has only progressed to a preliminary final once – last year with the Sharks – and has been at the club for the entire Craig Fitzgibbon era.
“He deserves more than anyone in this team to be there,” said Rudolf.
“To not have him there is quite heartbreaking but we’ll press on for him, for his sake, because we know he’d want us to do that.”
McInnes has remained a steady presence at training in the weeks leading up to Friday’s grand-final qualifier against Melbourne at AAMI Park.
The 31-year-old, regarded as one of the game’s deepest thinkers, has been quick to offer pointers and lend a hand to the coaching staff.
“He wouldn’t let anyone down by being either an assistant or even a coach (after retirement),” prop Addin Fonua-Blake told AAP.
“His mentality is pretty amazing and the way he trains is pretty amazing too. He wouldn’t let anyone down if that role was something that he wanted to pursue.”
For now, Fonua-Blake said it was up to the Sharks to channel a bit of McInnes in the fight for a grand-final berth.
“Everyone’s tried to take on a bit of what Cam brings to the team. This finals run is definitely dedicated a bit to him as well,” he said.
AAP
