Sharks forwards Wade Graham and Braden Hamlin-Uele are in awe of Cameron McInnes’ defensive feats but hope they never have to see their teammate make that many tackles again.
McInnes broke the NRL record with an incredible 81 tackles in his side’s 28-0 loss to the Panthers but Hamlin-Uele knows that individual records - even one as incredible as McInnes' - won't win you a premiership.
With their season on the line ahead of a Round 23 clash with the Rabbitohs - who currently sit one place in front of Cronulla on the ladder - the Samoan prop said South Sydney can expect the heart of 17 McInnes’ to take the field at Optus Stadium on Saturday night.
“We got off at full-time and I heard someone say '81' and I was like ‘is that how much possession they had?’ and they said, ‘no that’s how many tackles Cam made,” Hamlin-Uele told media on Tuesday.
"I didn’t really notice how much he was doing. I think it’s because he was still running the ball. Usually when you do more defence you are not as effective with the ball but he was still running it.
Panthers v Sharks - Round 22, 2023
“It’s insane but it is a testament to his character. He turns up week in and week out to training and is ready to go. The acceptance to lay it all out on the field, is what Cam has signed up to do and I love him for it.
“Hopefully 16 other blokes can sign up and go with him this week."
With costly errors (13) and a low completion gifting the premiers 60 per cent of possession on Saturday night, Hamlin-Uele said his side is hoping to go back to basics this week and rediscover their reputation as one of the competition’s biggest attacking threats.
“As great of a feat as what Cam did, you never want a single person to make that many tackles in a game. It means we’re doing too much defence,” Hamlin-Uele said.
“I think it just comes down to our fundamentals. Our catch, our pass, where we hand the ball over if we haven’t already and what we do with the ball.
“You saw in that game against Penrith where we did well to defend our errors but we made too many and if we cut those in half who knows what we can do with the ball.”
Meanwhile, skipper Wade Graham will already be feeling the occasion in Perth as he lines up for his 250th game for the club.
Having slipped from third to seventh on the back of three straight losses, the Cronulla second-rower said his team’s finals fate ultimately lies in the outcome of Saturday night.
Sharks: Round 22
“It's an incredible performance from Cam but all of us probably need to pick up our game and help out," Graham said.
“Obviously there’s lots of things we need to fix up, we let 28 points in again, but I feel as though it didn’t show on the scoreboard. It was definitely a step in the right direction with our commitment and effort.
"And it was a step that we needed to take through some adversity and hopefully it can be a turning point now because we have no time left really.
“It needs to be now, we need to start getting results. The teams we need to beat to make the eight are all in front of us in the run home, we’re in the race with them."
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