The Sharks Super Rugby training squad returns from their two-week Christmas break today and are set to resume training at Mr Price Kings Park this morning.
Last year’s World Cup somewhat upset the natural order of things, since there was no end-of-year tour to the Northern Hemisphere; as a result, October’s Currie Cup Final was the last time any of the squad was involved in a match (well, apart from Eugene van Staden, who went off to Biarritz on loan!). The longer-than-usual off-season has given the lads a good opportunity to recuperate and while the Christmas holiday is always appreciated an enjoyed, one gets the feeling that the players are all keen as hell to get stuck in and continue laying the best possible foundation for the gruelling 2012 season ahead.
With a number of the squad having spent the last few weeks with family in other parts of the country, we can report that they have all made it safely back to Durban and the coaching staff should have a virtually full squad available. This includes young utility back Wandile Mjekevu, who has been asked to rejoin the group after impressing during his original trial period late last year.
The Sharks first pre-season warm-up game takes place in a little under a month, as they face the Lions at Newlands on 1 Feb a part of the now traditional New Africa Tri-Series.
Cant wait!
Looking forward to seeing Mjekevu in action. That 13 jersey is going to be hotly contested.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 2) : If only we could say the same about no 12….
Good to see Mjekevu sticking around.
i have not seen Wandile Mjekevu play so do not know him.can you fill me in
It is good that there are options in the centres, but the question remains if Plumtree will experiment with these options or keep the wheel chair brigade going….
Morgan Newman is also back with the squad according to his twitter account. If Newman regains form and plays how he did in the cape a couple of years back, he could put a lot of pressure on Bosman.
@pete69 (Comment 5) : Inconsistent perfomer, so hard to give you an accurate assesment of Wandile…He Blows very hot and cold, you will hopefully see him get a run in the Neo-Tri Series; u can have a look at him then
Not sure about mjekevu at 13,but glad he has been invited back.this kid has shown himself capable of scoring tries at sr level.defence at 13?..
Jlp has still 2 more seasons on his contract and in his interview with sw ,he said he doesn’t mind where he plays as long as he plays..why hasn’t he been tried at 13?
@bergshark (Comment 9) : Personally i don’t like the Mjekevu idea; he is poor on defence(Like you question) and hasn’t played Centre consistently. We have talent freak Paul Jordaan, Use him!! We don’t need Mjekevu.
@bergshark (Comment 10) : I like JLP running with the ball; he might not be a starting 15 type player right now; but CC time he will be our 10; so i hope he gets some good game time in Superugby…if Fred plays 9 it will be very possible he gets some good runs.
I hope he extends his contract and The Sharks want to keep him on, Fred is leaving and we need the backup, and his versatility is a great asset if you want a competitive squad.
@JJR (Comment 7) : Thanx that`s good news.
I`m having a great day so far!
Moet net keer of dit gaan beter LOL sry Rob!
@JJR: I think we should sign mjekevu,but not as a 13.he impressed in sr rugby (attacking) on the wing.
).
Agree with you that jordaan is full of talent- hope he figures somewhere..but that said,I’m always looking for hard-tackling centres,players that can dominate the tackle.handling skills and defence ( a strong hand-off won’t hurt either..or wait,it should hurt..the opposition (mr:green))- rather give me the world-class tackler before the world-class runner at centre(unless he is also the world’s best tackler
@bergshark (Comment 10) : I think the Bulls tried him at 13, he lacked pace.
Our line-outs were also a problem during last year’s sr season..don’t know what’s been done in the off-season ? Don’t know who will be the no.4 lock either?
@Original Pierre: dunno ’bout him lacking pace_ remember the try he scored against sharks cheetahs cc semi in 2009 and the try for bulls in 2010 sr game at loftus? Think rob said he has a 4.8something(4.86 s ?)time over 40m.
@Original Pierre (Comment 13) : Confirmation- Newman 15 December; “Durban its been emotional! Catcha again in jan!”
Mjekevu is a good wing ,reminds me of Jpp at the same age. The 13 jersey should be given to MJ (
i know thats what you are all thinking) but we cant throw Whitehead or Jordaan in the deepend just yet.
Dunno if it will be deep-end for whitehead.he has some sr experience.
When can we expect to hear who the new boks coach is?
@bergshark (Comment 20) :Not sure yet if he will be better as an impact player or a starter.
@Uli (Comment 21) : I read somewhere that we should know by the 27th of Jan… I think. Should be interesting thou.
@Uli: good question.be interesting to see who it is and who will join him in his coaching team.
@Uli: best for 2012!
Mjekevu has a lot of potential but backs away from contact and not strong on defense, much like Jongi Nokwe to me
@Talent (Comment 19) : Well either someone goes in the deep end this year or the Sharks play in the Kiddy Pool aka Vodacom Cup next year.
MB and MJ didn`t even succeed in the CC, change it or expect the same results.
@Original Pierre:
@Original Pierre (Comment 27) : so totally agree with you
@Farlington (Comment 23) :
@bergshark (Comment 24) :
Yea its going to be interesting, also the captain…
@Uli: juan smith …?
@Original Pierre@Talent:think the sharks slogan for the 2006 superrugby campaign was “put up your hand”.that’s what it will take: for players to put up their hand,step forward and step up.
@bergshark (Comment 31) : I would love him to be, my only concern is how bad is his injuries for the long term, its pointless having a cappy who sits injured all the time.
Burger… well I recon he is a good average captain, nothing more.
I would love it if we could get a young person in… Who can do a long term as captain, as Smith did for us.
It brings allot of stability to the team. But who?…..
@Uli: dunno of a young cap ( or someone young-ish you could make vice-capt )captaining sr side and good enough for bok team?
@Talent (Comment 19) : @Original Pierre (Comment 27) : Tim Whitehead is 23 years old and had Superrugby experience with the Stormers. He should know the deep end very well by now.
@Uli: yes,juan smith been injury-plagued ..missed him and andries bekker at the rwc last year.but that was all about franchises putting their own performances ahead of the boks in the wc year unfortunately(and playing injured players).
@beet: u online?
@beet:comment 35
@bergshark (Comment 36) : yea true, I still have my doubts over Bekker though….
He is a good runner with the ball, but we need our locks to hit the rucks not sit on the wing…
Hi Guys,
anyone got info of our u19 group coming to the academy this year? anyone to look out for?
@Uli:true.
@VanWilder: best for 2012 vanwilder. Sean robinson ,fb from waterkloof (sounds like he is highly rated talent) and johan meyer (no8).from what I’ve gathered from arti’s on sw.
@VanWilder: sean robinson sounds like an attacking try-scoring fullback an johan meyer is a 1.94m 106kg no8.also very highly rated-seems like bulls ,lions were after his signature,but he decided to join the sharks.
@bergshark (Comment 42) : thanks, i have those 2 aswell. Seems like the Bulls bought everyone??
@VanWilder: read the art on johan meyer – it is on here- was done a few days ago.
@VanWilder: seems like it
@bergshark (Comment 45) : thanks, i did read it, thus i started wondering who else is coming to the Academy. But thanks again. there is nothing better than to see a player coming through our junior ranks and ending up playing for the senior side aswell as the boks. (Lambie, JPP, F Steyn, R Pienaar and hopefully soon to be Marcell.)
Money to spend..used it on building up their junior ranks ir seems..
@bergshark (Comment 48) : maybe a wise choice. I think they will struggle a bit up front this year, but should be better off at the back than last year…
Add to that list beast,johann muller,kanko,keegan.
Or wait: keegan not played for boks yet.
@bergshark (Comment 51) : Ummmmm yes he has, 1 cap, granted from the bench. Last year, end of year tour, everyone here agreed he should have had 4 caps but Steggman was preferred by Victoria, and Smittie was not on tour to curtail the undue influence he seemed to have in selections.
@JJR (Comment 8) : Don’t think we will see any warm-up games except if you are at the stadium the only chance we had of seeing a warm-up game was in the neo africa tri series and now the sharks have withdrawn from that series.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 52) : It’s that wonderful time of the year again (maybe a few weeks later than usual)
THE PLAYOFFS
As a closet fan of gridiron, do you have a hot favourite oops favorite to win the SuperBowl?
Ben is probably still recovering from last Sunday’s Dallas disaster
@beet (Comment 54) :
a closet fan? I can honestly say I have not watched a single gridiron game in 2011 and 2012. I don’t even know which teams are in the playoffs.
Since I do live in relative close proximity to Baltimore, many around here are saying they think that Baltimore (Ravens) will win the Superbowl. Personally I don’t know and honestly don’t care.
@Dancing Bear (Comment 55) :
I don’t think the Ravens have a realistic shot. It’s all good and well having a hell of a defense, but the Ravens can’t put enough points on the board with that crop (and balance) of receivers and not a great RB rotation. Poor Flacco I reckon has copped a lot of unfair criticism the last few years.
I wouldn’t put them down as favorites but I’ve got a good feeling about the 49ers.
If the Packers hadn’t lost Jennings, I’d have backed them to walk it.
@hendrikp (Comment 56) : hehehehe, did you read my entire post???
Especially the last sentence, where I stated I don’t know and honestly don’t care. 
Not to mention the first paragraph where I said I have not watched a single gridiron game in 2011 or 2012. I therefore, would take none of my predictions seriously. 
@Dancing Bear (Comment 57) : Hey DB, you very scares these day, howzit going….. that house of your all fixed up yet…..
@hendrikp (Comment 56) : Defences are a big deal when the playoffs come around.
This season has been strange tho. Some of the best teams in the league have the worst defences around eg. New England and Green Bay – they basically outscore teams. There is a feeling that the lockout has had a lot to do with the poor fairing of teams with strong D and explains why guys like Brees and even Brady have had huge record breaking seasons by throwing the football.
I think the Ravens have had a good team for a number of years and their misfortunes have largely come down to being in the same div as the Steelers who are a BMT team esp when it counts most. However this year the Ravens have done the double over the Steelers so they are looking good and they do have that excellent D attribute which suggests success in the playoffs.
i see the Sharks have withdrawn from the Neo Africa Series due to the possibility of making more money from playing at home ..
They will be replaced by the Cheetahs
@Zibbie (Comment 60) : Good call by the Sharks, why help the Stormers win another “homemade” trophy?
That said, aren’t the warm-up home games normally free? So how would they make more money? Unless it is a case of the cost of the trip to Cape Town isn’t worth the benefits reaped from it.
@Zibbie (Comment 60) : Yeah, apparently they need the extra income to pay the salaries of all the Lions who are going to flock to durban now that the GLRU can’t afford to pay them.
@Zibbie (Comment 60) : yeah but who will they play against now? Or will the Sharks not have warm up games?
@Dancing Bear: comment52: thanks for the correction
I thought so (that he was capped during eoyt ’10) ,but wasn’t quite sure.
How was your new year? All the best for 2012 .
@KSA Shark: maybe the sharks have a game lined up against a nh team that they keeping quiet about?
@KSA Shark: maybe the sharks have a game lined up against a nh team that they keeping quiet about?
@beet: the more I think about it,the more sorry I feel for the americans that they play pro gridiron and not rugby union .
@Greg: the sharks prefer cheetahs (mr:green)
Actually,we need the money to pay for frans steyn
@KSA Shark © (Comment 61) : I think we can make the assumption that the warmup game the Sharks are organising won’t be free
@KSA Shark © (Comment 61) :
Yea . i cant really see that a warm up game could generate that much income in anyways …
@Greg (Comment 62) :
i think thats the stormers you are referring to Greg
@Sharksmad – The Blog’s Dudette (Comment 63) :
i have no idea .
i read that the cheetahs were invited late December already …. the press have been slow on this story and you would think that the fans would be greatful for some info from KingsPark !
hmmm…and sarries are training in CT…could it be a Co-inky-dink !
@The Duke (Comment 71) : Coincidence with what?
@Dancing Bear (Comment 55) : “Since I do live in relative close proximity to Baltimore…”
Eish. ‘The Wire’ has not made me want to ever visit Baltimore…