Bring it on!

Being close to rugby, and supporting the Sharks for as long as I can remember, as a friend said to me, "You are living my dream", and I guess I am.

I'm also living mine!

And so with great anticipation and excitement, the long preseason (over 3 months) has finally come to and end and at the time of writing, in two days time, the Sharks will be taking on the Western Force at The Absa Stadium Durban.

I can't wait! This year they have one of the best teams in living memory. OK, so they lost John Smit, Butch James and Percy Montgomery (and a couple others, but not in the same class), but in Bismarck du Plessis, Frederic Michalak and Frans Steyn, they have three World Cup players replacing three others.



There are big shoes to fill, but I have every confidence in all three of these. Add new signings Jannie du Plessis - and I think he will be huge for the Sharks in a number of respects - Charl McLeod (one to watch in the future), Jean Deysel and Epi Taione from Tonga, alongside the match-winners like Ruan Pienaar, Waylon Murray, Ryan Kankowski and JP Pietersen, and old heads like AJ Venter, Johann Muller, Jacques Botes, Stefan Terblanche and together with the rest of the squad, this is a great team.

I firmly believe that this is the year of the Sharks. No World Cup and a new Springbok coach mean we may well lose fewer players to the Boks than we did last year (something like 15 players) and so not only will we be competitive in the Super 14, but the Currie Cup as well.

I feel we have underachieved in the domestic competition, but there is a good reason for this - John Smit played only a handful of Currie Cup games in the past 4 years or so, and with Jake White selecting



so many players, we have battled with continuity.

Finally, add the coaching staff of Dick Muir and John Plumtree to a tight-knit management group and you have the makings of a champion side. If the Sharks can keep the players and coaching team together, there is no reason for them not to emulate the exploits of the team of the 90s!

Until next time... Cheers!

Michael
added - 13 February, 2008




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