Who will be the Sharks props in 2009?

The Sharks football club have said that the names of the members of the Sharks full-time squad for 2009, will not be released until early March 2009.  Until then, Sharks fans can only speculate on which players will be selected in the NRL team.

One important subject to fans is ‘Which prop forwards will be available to the Sharks in 2009?’.

During the 2008 season, nine forwards were selected as prop forwards in the Sharks NRL team.  These were Ross, Douglas, Nutley, Norrie, Snowden, Peek, Moa, Selmes, and Sua.

The hard-hitting Dan Nutley has retired and Adam Peek and Sam Moa have gone to the Super League in Europe, leaving only six potentially available to play in the NRL in 2009.

On the bright side the Sharks have signed two prop forwards, Ryan Verlinden from the North Sydney Bears, and Jon Mannah from Parramatta.

Jon Mannah is being spoken of as a member of the Sharks NYC team, so he may not get a look at NRL football in 2009.

Ryan Verlinden has not yet played NRL, but he has improved greatly every year playing under-20s and NSW Cup football with the North Sydney Bears, and was rewarded with selection in the NSW Cup representative side in 2008.  His hard-running style and towering physique had made him a crowd favourite at North Sydney Oval, where he was known as ‘The Rhino’.

While playing for the North Sydney Bears against Cronulla late in the 2008 NSW Cup season, his strong runs generated good attacking metres, and it required three Cronulla defenders to stop him each time.  He scores plenty of tries for a prop forward, is an exciting prospect, and is highly likely to be selected in the Sharks NRL team in 2009.

Also expect Jacob Selmes and Eddie Sua to play more NRL than they did in 2008.

The Sharks have also signed Jack Afamasaga from Manly, but he has played in the second row during his NRL career.  He played in the centres in his youth, as a talented young rugby union player in New Zealand.

The season will most probably start with Ben Ross, Luke Douglas, Bryan Norrie, and Kade Snowden, as the props in the NRL team.  Although Luke Douglas was often selected as a starting second-row forward in 2008, this may not happen in 2009, as the Sharks have a very strong contingent of back-row forwards for the 2009 season.  Luke Douglas may be in the front-row permanently from now on.