Theyre already talking up their chances, but former Cronulla coach Chris Anderson says the Sharks will need to play outrageous in 2017 to become the first team in a quarter of a century to win back-to-back titles in a united competition.No side since the great Brisbane line-up in 1992-93 featuring Allan Langer, Kevin and Kerrod Walters, Steve Renouf, Willie Carne, Michael Hancock and Glenn Lazarus has successfully defended their crown.Not even star-studded Melbourne, with future Immortals candidates Cameron Smith, Billy Slater, Greg Inglis and Cooper Cronk, or Manly, who also won two grand finals from four over the past decade have managed the feat.It was also a bridge too far for Johnathan Thurstons North Queensland Cowboys in 2016, with the Broncos in a 10-team Super League in 1997 and then in the first NRL season in 98 the last side to go back-to-back.Anderson, who coached both Canterbury and Melbourne to premierships before falling one game shy of guiding Cronulla to the 2002 grand final, believes the Sharks will be up against it next year.But he isnt completely writing Shane Flanagans men off.Theres no way youd put money on it because Brisbane are the only ones who have done it (in the past 26 years) and Melbourne cant do it, Anderson told AAP.But theyve got a good side. They played outrageous this year. They were a team who believed in themselves, they believed in their football and under pressure they delivered.I watched the game against Canberra that they played in the semis and they just knew how to win. That was the turning point.The Sharks are hoping monster recruit Tony T-Rex Williams will have a major impact in 2017, but their biggest dilemma is finding a replacement for influential hooker Michael Ennis, who retired after the 14-12 grand final win over the Storm.Skipper Paul Gallen on Tuesday all but ruled out the premiers making a play for James Segeyaro, who wants out of his English Super League contract with Leeds Rhinos.The Rhinos are threatening to sue the former North Queensland and Penrith No.9, as well as placing a $425,000 transfer fee on the 26-year-old.I think that would rule a lot of clubs out if they had to pay a $400,000 fee, Gallen said on Triple M radio.That fee goes into your salary cap and you got to pay a fee on top of it ... so thats a big, big transfer fee. Jerseys For Sale Outlet . The 18th player to shoot 60 on the tour, Jamieson settled for par on the final hole when his 15-foot birdie chip grazed the edge of the hole and stayed out. After opening with rounds of 66 and 73 to make the cut by a stroke, he had 11 birdies in the bogey-free round. Cheap Jerseys For Sale . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. https://www.jerseysforsalechina.com/ Discount Jerseys For Sale . PETERSBURG, Fla. Fake Jerseys For Sale . For the Wild it was their first win of the season and they now have a record of 1-1-2 while the Jets fall to 2-2. Jets start a six game home stand Friday with another divisional game, home to the Dallas Stars. On the eve of their first match during their previous visit to India, New Zealand coach Mike Hesson asked the curator in Nagpur what the pitch was expected to do. Hesson says he was told it was a hard and bouncy pitch. New Zealand went ahead and left out Tim Southee and Trent Boult, played three spinners, attacked the new ball because they knew the old ball would be impossible to go after, scored just 126, but their spinners delivered them a 47-run win. New Zealands reading of the conditions, and then adapting to them, were big reasons behind their unbeaten run in the league stages of the World T20.That was Twenty20. This is Test cricket. New Zealand will draw confidence from that showing, but they wont be deluding themselves based on the World T20. This three-Test series has all the makings of this groups biggest test. New Zealand have only ever won two Tests in India, and may need to double that tally to win this series. But there is anticipation around them, mostly because of what they did in the World T20, in particular their two spinners whose performances suggested they could translate their promise into longer forms. Now, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi are joined by Mark Craig.Never in recent memory has more been expected of a New Zealand tour of India. Never in recent memory have India looked this dominant at home. India have three spinners with much more pedigree and experience of these conditions. Ever since India decided to play on pitches where the ball starts turning early and turns big, beating them in a home Test series has become arguably the biggest challenge in world cricket.With cricket being a game of conditions, it couldnt be more loaded against New Zealand. The only preparation they have had in the move from their tracks to this intense, relentless trial by spin is two training sessions in Delhi, a three-day game on a flat track against unthreatening spinners, and two more training sessions in Kanpur. The heat is stifling. There is high humidity and no breeze in Kanpur right now.The curator at Green Park has said the turn wont be as alarming as it was in Nagpur, but the pitch looks really dry and has cracks. In unusual scenes two days before the Test, the groundstaff asked some net bowlers to bowl on the match pitch. It is technically allowed - the pitch is handed over to the match referee on the morning of the Test - but this is hardly ever done. The poor rating for the Nagpur pitch after the Test against South Africa last year plays on the minds of groundsmen now. There were no puffs of dust, which relieved them. However, there was turn. Dont be surprised either if the spinners business area is drier and rougher than the rest of the pitch, negating Neil Wagners bounce, and accentuating the turn.He hasnt told us it is hard and bouncy as the Nagpur groundsman did, Hesson joked when asked about any conversations he might have had with the groundstaff here.Hesson is not surprised by what he has seen. Unless some grass grows over the next two days, there will be plenty of assistance for the spinners, he said. I think the pitch will deteriorate, as it should. Spin will play a massive part, as will reverse swing. So there are no surprises here.Hesson knows knowing what to expect is different from reacting to it. If one jumps at them, Ravindra Jadeja will keep firing in that general areaa all day with slight variation of angle, and let the pitch do the rest.dddddddddddd R Ashwin will add dip to it. He will swerve it with the new ball. Amit Mishra will add the legspinners X-factor. There will be catchers around, there will be deep fielders to choke easy runs, and there will be no relenting from the heat and humidity. Not in Kanpur and Kolkata at least.The ability to respond with a clear mind and quick feet when the ball starts jumping and staying low comes with solid defence and lots of practice playing on such tracks. Knowing the international schedules today, Hesson said this is possibly the best preparation his side could have had. He has now put it down to the ability to adapt.The conditions here are slightly different than they were in Delhi, Hesson said. Its up to today and tomorrow to make sure we adapt the best we can. And we know even during the game the pitch is going to change, so we have to keep adjusting.Hesson summed up the dual challenge of playing India in these conditions by saying that you have to prepare for the worst, but, at the same time, guard against jumping at shadows, by building it up too much and failing to recognise easier conditions when they come their way.We have watched the Test matches against South Africa, absolutely, Hesson said. We saw the conditions in that series, and they were challenging. There is no doubt about that. If you prepare, over-train in terms of preparing for those conditions and then you get something slightly better, then thats great. You have got to prepare for the harshest conditions and see how it goes from there.I think you can jump at shadows at times [if you prepare for the worst]. I think you need to adapt to what you are confronted with. We have got an idea how we think how the surface might play, but it might be quite different. We are capable of adapting.Adapting quickly won them games in the World T20, but there wont be any quick wins here. We have won two Test matches in our history here, Hesson said. So we know it is a tough place to come and win, as it is for any touring side. And India are playing good cricket at the moment, but we have got a group of cricketers who will be highly competitive. Thats our challenge - to be highly competitive and stay in the game for long periods of time. Then, anything can happen.There is no set formula to beat India in India in this mood, but England showed it can be done if you have four attributes: a solid defensive batsman in Alastair Cook, who showed to the rest that it was possible to bat, a maverick in Kevin Pietersen, who could drive the nail in, two spinners in Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, who were accurate and quick, and reverse swing in James Anderson. Lower-order runs can be a big factor as South Africa learned in their defeat despite having reduced India to 120-odd for 6 on more than one occasion.New Zealand have a defensive batsman in Williamson, they have a potential maverick if Ross Taylor can have a big series, they have spinners and the variety of spinners, although unproven at this level, and they have the possibility of reverse swing. They bat deep. If all, or most these factors click, they can take games deep. Then, anything can happen. ' ' '
