The Sharks are pleased to announce global rugby union superstar Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Michalak will join the club’s NRL coaching ranks next season.<\/p>\n
Michalak will serve as an assistant to head coach Craig Fitzgibbon from mid-2026 after completing his commitments with European rugby powerhouse Racing 92.<\/p>\n
The 43-year-old played 77 Tests for France across a stellar 15-year international career while also representing Toulouse, Toulon, Lyon and South Africa’s Sharks at club level in the 15-man code.<\/p>\n
Renowned for his playmaking flair and creativity as a fly-half in his playing days, Michalak is already well acquainted with rugby league and the Cronulla Sharks.<\/p>\n
He lent his expertise to the club’s halves as a kicking and skills consultant in 2022, drawing effusive praise from the likes of Nicho Hynes. The three-time Rugby World Cup competitor also worked with Fitzgibbon during a consultancy stint at the Sydney Roosters.<\/p>\n
After hanging up the boots in 2018, Michalak moved into a management role as President Consultant in Lyon. In 2021, he worked as a coaching consultant for the Sydney Roosters. Later that year, he joined French Top 14 giants Toulon as an assistant coach focused on player development.<\/p>\n
In 2023, he moved to rival club Racing 92, taking on an assistant coach position and leading the team’s attack.<\/p>\n
Fitzgibbon is excited to tap into Michalak’s unique perspective and skillset when he officially becomes part of the black, white and blue family.<\/p>\n
“Fred’s experience on the international stage will be an invaluable asset for our squad, especially heading into the business end of next season,” Fitzgibbon said.<\/p>\n
“He’s already built strong relationships with many of our players and staff through his consultancy work and we have no doubt as to the value he’ll provide our program.<\/p>\n
“We wish Fred well as he looks to finish his time at Racing 92 on a high note and can’t wait to welcome him to our club full time in 2026.”<\/p>\n
Michalak will replace Josh Hannay, who vacated his role on Fitzgibbon’s staff at the conclusion of the 2025 season to accept a head coaching opportunity at the Gold Coast Titans.<\/p>\n
Further coaching staff updates will be communicated ahead of the 2026 season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sharks are pleased to announce global rugby union superstar Fr\u00e9d\u00e9ric Michalak will join the club’s NRL coaching…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":326580,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-326579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=326579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/326579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/326580"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=326579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=326579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=326579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}