Barking orders: Cronulla’s training strategy to deal with rowdy Dogs’ fans

1 week ago 4

Cronulla are doing everything possible to prepare for their potential top-four shootout against Canterbury this weekend by blasting the ‘Bulldogs’ chant over the loudspeakers at training on Wednesday.

Footage of the Sharks simulating what they expect the atmosphere to be like on Saturday night was posted to TikTok by a Bulldogs’ supporter, and had already been viewed more than 200,000 times by Thursday morning.

It’s not uncommon for sporting teams to train with crowd noise and music blaring through speakers to re-create a game-day atmosphere.

Players are encouraged to use a louder voice when communicating with each other on the field.

The running joke at South Sydney is the only time they don’t bother with any extra music at training – and opt for silence at Heffron Park – is when preparing for Roosters’ home games.

Canterbury fans at Accor Stadium in August.

But it is uncommon for an actual chant from an opposition team to be played during training. Those chants are often played on game day when the home team goes on the attack.

The Sharks players trained for about ten minutes listening to plenty of noise, which included the repeated ‘Bulldogs!’ chant, something they will hear from an anticipated 30,000 fans at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday.

The huge crowds at Canterbury games have been a highlight this season, with the Sydney club to average more than 30,000 fans per game for the first time in their history. Only the Broncos average a better attendance for home games.

This will be Cronulla’s first trip to Sydney Olympic Park all year, and certainly the loudest and biggest crowd they have played in front of in Sydney this year.

The Sharks have trained while listening to rival chants this season, but have always forced to keep it short because of noise complaints from neighbours living above and around their Woolooware training base.

Should the Broncos lose to Melbourne on Thursday night, Cronulla can book a top-four spot with a win over the third-placed Dogs.

Five-eighth Braydon Trindall is no certainty to play because of an ankle complaint, but will definitely feature in week one of the finals.

Should Cronulla finish fifth or sixth, they will host a week-one final at Shark Park, which holds about 15,000 fans. But any games they ‘host’ in weeks two and three will be moved to CommBank Stadium – not Allianz Stadium – because work is due to commence on the much-publicised playing surface at the Moore Park venue.

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