Craig Fitzgibbon did well to keep a lid on what his side achieved in the nation’s capital with a thumping win over the minor premiers, but it was a short phrase midway through his post-match press conference that shows where Cronulla’s heads are at going into next week’s preliminary final.

The Sharks knocked off the Roosters in the first week of the finals and then kicked clear after a slow start to eliminate the Raiders away from home with a 32-12 victory where their stars delivered on the biggest stage.

They face a daunting trip down south against the premiership favourites who have had the week off, but nothing scares the Sharks right now with the team playing its best big-game footy since Fitzgibbon took over in 2022.

“I don’t think we’re any further ahead than what we’ve been,” he said.

“The only thing I can say is that the boys are hungry and they’re making the right choices. We’ve been together for a period of time so it’s time for us to stand up or we’ve got to make some changes or we’ve got to look at the way we’re doing things.

“We’re playing Melbourne in Melbourne in six days. That’s a challenge, but we’re ready for that.”

Cronulla’s finals record has been an issue over the past four seasons, but they showed on Saturday that they deserve to be premiership contenders after they weathered an early storm to crush a Canberra side missing Ethan Strange.

Fitzgibbon was worried that the five-eighth’s absence would galvanise the hosts, but instead it was his own star halfback who turned the game on its head with five minutes of brilliance before half-time.

Hynes won a Dally M in 2022 but this was his finest showing in a big game with the halfback setting up a try and scoring one of his own to silence the crowd, with five-eighth Braydon Trindall taking a back seat after starring last week.

“I think that’s a fair assessment,” Fitzgibbon replied when asked if that was Hynes’ most important performance for the club.

“He deserves some credit for that because he doesn’t get much. He’s had a strong season, but in one week it’s Tricky (Trindall) and the next week it’s Nicho (who takes control).

“It’s pleasing to see both of them play well together, and that’s the most important thing for us. They’re actually not worried about that, and whatever the team needs is whatever the team needs.

“Some weeks Nicho will shine and Tricky won’t, and some weeks Tricky will. It’s good to see them playing well together.”

While Hynes provided the polish, Addin Fonua-Blake dominated up front after bench prop Tom Hazelton was knocked out following a head clash just minutes after coming on.

That forced Fonua-Blake to punch out huge minutes, with the prized recruit running for more metres than any middle forward on Saturday night as he showed why the club was so happy to spend the big bucks to sign him.

“He’s all in,” his coach beamed.

“When Toby (prop Toby Rudolf) scored the try at the end of the game (last week) the way that Addin celebrated showed that he’s giving himself to whatever the team needs.

“He’s an impressive man – not just as a footy player – and he’s done it the hard way. He’s learnt some valuable lessons over the course of his life and he’s stepping up now.

“I thought tonight when we lost Tommy, I went ‘Adds, we’re going to have to sauce you’, and he said ‘sweet mate, whatever you need’.

“I said ‘how long can you go?’ and he went ‘as long as you want’. That was nice to know.”

Originally published as ‘That’s a challenge, but we’re ready for that’: Craig Fitzgibbon and the Sharks full of confidence ahead of Storm showdown