One Shellharbour team is riding high and on the cusp of making the Group Seven rugby league finals for the first time ever.
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The established Sharks on the other hand is unlikely to play finals this season but their coach Abed Atallah was adamant his chargers would be ready to fire in their derby showdown against the Stingrays of Shellharbour on Sunday at Flinders Field.
"They are running pretty good at the moment but at the end of the day it is a derby so it doesn't really matter whereabouts on the ladder each team sits, it is going to be a good contest," Atallah said.
"We aren't going to lie down. This is an important game for us. We are going to be up for the challenge."
We aren't going to lie down. This is an important game for us.
- Shellharbour Sharks coach Abed Atallah
For the record, the red-hot Stingrays sit in equal third-place and head into the round 15 fixture having won their last four games against perennial Group Seven powerhouses Jamberoo, Warilla, Kiama and Gerringong.
It was the Stingrays first ever win against Gerringong but co-coach Brad Reh wasn't getting too carried away, telling the Mercury "the job isn't done".
This spells trouble for a Sharks outfit which has won only four games all season and is "highly unlikely" to play finals football.
The club though has had more than its share of injuries to key players.
Atallah though was not one for making excuses and stressed his team's poor season to date was "of its own doing".
"The reality is there have been games that we should have won but we didn't so that's why we are where we are. It is on ourselves," the coach said.
"It is very unlikely that we will make the finals so all we can do now is concentrate on our remaining four games, starting with the Stingrays.
"It will be a big win if we could beat them. We are still confident in our ability to get the job done.
"We have to make sure we take any opportunities we get in the game. We haven't done that too well throughout the season.
"We have to also match them through the middle. They are a big pack. We have to meet them head on.
"Out wide we also have to make our one on one tackles because they have a lot of strike power across the park."
Meantime there will be more than two competition points up for grabs in the Gerringong v Kiama derby on Saturday, with the winner to take home the Danny Morse Shield.
In other games this weekend, Berry Shoalhaven Heads host Warilla Lake South, Jamberoo play Nowra-Bomaderry and Milton-Ulladulla battle Albion Park-Oak Flats.
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
