Andrew Fifita’s foul-mouthed rant at assistant coach is rubbished

A rugby league star’s claim he was pointed at an assistant coach after scoring a try has been rubbished – as it is claimed the head coach was his true target.

Cronulla Sharks bad boy Andrew Fifita screamed ‘f*** you’ in the direction of the coaching staff after scoring a try during Saturday’s game against North Queensland.

After the game both Fifita and head coach Shane Flanagan claimed the target of the spray was assistant coach Jim Dymock who supposedly angered him by telling him to run the ball harder.

That claim has been rejected by NRL legend Steve Roach, who said Dymock was not in the coaches box when Fifita pointed at it.

He suggested Flanagan was the intended target, with Fifita furious at being benched early in the first half, Fox Sports reported.

 

Andrew Fifita (pictured) had a point to prove after spending 42 minutes on the bench during the Sharks’ NRL win against North Queensland in Sydney on Saturday night

'I'm not worried about it at all, or who it was directed at, if he goes out there and runs hard and scores a try I couldn't care who he pointed at,' Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan (pictured) said afterwards

‘I’m not worried about it at all, or who it was directed at, if he goes out there and runs hard and scores a try I couldn’t care who he pointed at,’ Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan (pictured) said afterwards

‘Of course it was aimed at the coach. Jim Dymock was on the sideline. (Fifita) was pointing up in the stands,’ Roach said.

‘I’ll tell you why he didn’t publicly say it, because the media manager got to him before he did his interview and was told what to say.’  

Teammate Luke Lewis didn’t hold back when asked about Fifita’s outburst on Triple M radio, slamming the hot-headed front-rower for the stunt. 

‘It wasn’t a good look for the game and it wasn’t a good look for our side either. It’s very disappointing because we had a good win,’ Lewis said. 

‘That’s just the way Fifita is. He sort of just goes with the flow and acts how he acts and then thinks about it later.’

‘He doesn’t think about it at the time and make the right decisions.’

Paul Gallen also revealed what prompted the star Cronulla player to publicly blow up at his own coaching staff.

‘Jim Dymock gives him the tough love and Andrew doesn’t always like it, Andrew’s first stint wasn’t good enough according to Jim and Jim gave it to him at half time,’ Gallen told Sports Sunday. 

‘What Jim said and what any coaching staff says to Andrew provokes this type of performance, that’s what we want to see.’

Gallen said Fifita and Dymock were always at logger heads, claiming the player”s attitude needed to be ‘managed’ in the locker room. 

Cronulla player Luke Lewis (pictured) was asked about Fifita's outburst on Triple M radio when he said he didn't agree with the actions of his teammate

Cronulla player Luke Lewis (pictured) was asked about Fifita’s outburst on Triple M radio when he said he didn’t agree with the actions of his teammate

‘We can’t give him the tough love, the thing about Andrew is, myself, Shane Flanagan, the whole team, we need to massage Andrew and be real positive with him and tell him what we want to do,’ Gallen said. 

The feisty enforcer didn’t look happy about spending half the match on the bench during his side’s must win clash against North Queensland at Southern Cross Stadium on Saturday night.

He was replaced early in the match after he conceded a penalty in lead up to a Cowboys try.

Not long after after coming back onto the field in the 60th minute for his second spell, Fifita made up for his earlier mistake when he barged over and slammed the ball down for a try that gave the Sharks the lead.

A fired up Fifita let his feelings known as he angrily shouted and pointed towards the coaches’ box as he was embraced by teammates.

The dramatic moment has since become a major talking point for fans and legends of the game.

Cronulla Sharks enforcer Andrew Fifita (pictured with wife Nikkita) has played 184 NRL games

Cronulla Sharks enforcer Andrew Fifita (pictured with wife Nikkita) has played 184 NRL games

A blast from the coaching staff had Cronulla prop Andrew Fifita (pictured) fired up

A blast from the coaching staff had Cronulla prop Andrew Fifita (pictured) fired up

‘I love the passion of Andrew but I hope it’s not directed at the coach. Something is going on here. The response from Fifita was explosive,’ former Sharks hooker Michael Ennis said on the Fox Footy commentary. 

In his post match interview, Fifita revealed the gesture was not directed at Sharks coach Shane Flanagan but at assistant coach Jim Dymock.

‘I know Jimmy was up there. At half-time he said I wasn’t running hard enough and I had a point to prove… it wasn’t really directed at Shane Flanagan it was at Jimmy, he told me I wasn’t running hard enough,’ he told Fox League.

Flanagan said Fifita made a big difference when he came on for his second half spell. 

‘I love his passion, he got told he wasn’t running hard enough and he went out hard and scored a try,’ Flanagan said.

‘I’m not worried about it at all, or who it was directed at, if he goes out there and runs hard and scores a try I couldn’t care who he pointed at.’

Fifita’s post-try reaction divided opinion of league greats commentating on the game.

Queensland legend Darren Lockyer believed Dymock’s blast sparked Fifita into action.

An emotional Andrew Fifita (pictured) yelled and pointed towards the coaches box after his match winning four-pointer

An emotional Andrew Fifita (pictured) yelled and pointed towards the coaches box after his match winning four-pointer

‘At half-time you sort of felt like Cronulla were just going through the motions so they needed a bit of a spark,’ Lockyer said on Channel 9.

‘And I think that game turned their way when he scored that. After that try he (Fifita) got the kick-off and he run it back probably the hardest I’d seen him run the whole game.’

Parramatta Eels legend Peter Sterling joked: ‘I don’t know why they didn’t tell him after 20 minutes.’

Penrith Panthers legend Greg Alexander had a different view.

‘But I don’t think any coach would be happy, whether it’s a head coach or an assistant to be singled out like that and made so public, it’s something that you do when you come back in at full-time,’ he said on Fox Sports.

The in-form Sharks went on to beat the Cowboys 28-16 in what was retiring champion Johnathan Thurston’s final game in Sydney.



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