18-year-old bolter for Manly No.9 void; Roosters sign Johns<\/a><\/p>\n17 Sharks including Cameron McInnes areoff-contract in 2026.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
\u201cThankfully at the end, the boys were able to switch it on a bit, but I reckon we probably need to be a bit more consistent throughout the year to sort of make some noise at the end.\u201d <\/p>\n
The knock on the Sharks is that they can match it with the best in the competition at times in the regular season, but they haven\u2019t been able to deliver in the pressure-cooker of finals footy. <\/p>\n
McInnes conceded his team need to win more consistently in the regular season to instil the belief that they can step up in the big end of season games. <\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s always noise about not being able to win big games,\u201d McInnes said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have from time to time, but you want to be in those big games throughout the year, and you don\u2019t get too many opportunities in a regular season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reckon there\u2019s been times over the last couple of years that we\u2019ve probably let ourselves down in those moments throughout the year, and then when you get to those semi-final games, whether it\u2019s subconscious or not, there\u2019s these little scars.<\/p>\n
Moale to join Storm ahead of Manly move | 00:26<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our best footy is good enough, but the best teams are able to access it when they need it, and the pressure is on. Sometimes you have to lose them to win the next one.\u201d <\/p>\n
However, with a potential player drain this season as the Perth Bears target a number of their players, including Colquhoun and Ramien, McInnes admits 2026 could be the last hurrah for this Sharks squad. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not naive to that fact (this could be the last time together),\u201d McInnes said. <\/p>\n
\u201cGuys like me that are getting older and other guys are performing really well, and that\u2019s what happens, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou perform well for a club, and then other clubs that need some help come and throw money, and that\u2019s a decision everyone has to make, and you can\u2019t keep everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI reckon that\u2019s probably where the club\u2019s coming to right now and so for me, it\u2019s just that sense of urgency.<\/p>\n
Dragons’ halves still not set for 2026 | 00:57<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we started coming up five years ago now, you always want to build something and achieve something and we\u2019ve done really well, but if you come second, you\u2019re the same as the person that comes 17th. So close enough\u2019s not really good enough in our game, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
McInnes is coming off an ACL injury that cut short his 2025 campaign and admits he has to get back to his best to earn an extension at the club or an opportunity at a rival team. <\/p>\n
\u201c(It\u2019s) a bit too cliche, but I\u2019m just trying to see where I\u2019m at right now,\u201d McInnes said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got to get back on the field. The way I\u2019m sort of looking at it is the knee doesn\u2019t help things.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re younger, you sort of need to prove that you belong, and then once you get over 30, probably more in the forwards\u2026 you probably need to prove that you can still do it. I\u2019m still hungry to prove that I\u2019ve still got time left in me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Fit Cobbo impressing Phins | 01:37<\/p>\n
However, while McInnes understands the club\u2019s position in not taking a risk on him until he proves he can get back to his best, at 31 he believes he has a lot more to offer in first grade. <\/p>\n
\u201cFrom a club standpoint, you can understand (with an) older player coming off an ACL (injury), you want to see what\u2019s going on before you commit,\u201d McInnes said. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re a bit younger, you always put an age on it, don\u2019t you? And then you\u2019re like, \u2018if I get to that age, I\u2019ll be content.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut then, for myself anyway, it got to 31\u2026 (and) I\u2019m not content.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t ever want to be holding on. I want to be contributing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sharks skipper Cameron McInnes has admitted the Sharks\u2019 premiership window could be closing with 17 players coming off-contract…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":366039,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[198763,64,63,689,197841,4562,4738,4565,4437,763,2105,39271,4587,44450,12412,761,762,673,158,677,4598,152139,197843,74197,197842,18000,11368,198762,11395,197845,198764,85,670,4413,4456,198765],"class_list":["post-366038","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-admits-title","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bears-ramp","tag-cameron-mcinnes","tag-craig-fitzgibbon","tag-cronulla-sharks","tag-daniel-atkinson","tag-fox-league","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-halves-pairing","tag-jesse-colquhoun","tag-manly","tag-matt-king","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-players-off-contract","tag-pre-season-efforts-ramp","tag-preliminary-finals","tag-preliminary-finals-curse","tag-premiership-window","tag-regular-season","tag-roster-overhaul","tag-season-games","tag-sharks-confident","tag-sharks-team-captain","tag-sports","tag-sydney","tag-toby-rudolf","tag-william-kennedy","tag-window-closing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366038","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=366038"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/366038\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/366039"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=366038"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=366038"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=366038"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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