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Sharks prop Addin Fonua-Blake has opened up on the seamless transition to Cronulla that has seen him emerge as one of the buys of the year.
The forward has long been considered among the best front rowers in the game and has exceeded all expectations in the Shire with 12 dominant performances to start the year.
Fonua-Blake has another opportunity to stamp his place in the front-row pecking order when he goes toe-to-toe with James Fisher-Harris in his first match against the Warriors since departing last year.
The prop relishes the chance to lead from the front and declared he won't take a backwards step at Sharks Stadium on Saturday evening.
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Addin Fonua-Blake Try
"These are the challenges you look forward to going up against each week," Fonua-Blake said. "They've got an alpha in every team and you've got to match their energy every week.
"James has been playing out of his skin this year. He's a real leader for them and I see myself as a leader for this team. This team's got a lot of leaders, Cam McInnes is licking his lips to get stuck into them, it's the same with Braden [Hamlin-Uele] and Sifa [Talakai] and Oregon [Kaufusi].
"We're going to go after their pack and vice versa. They're going to come out all guns blazing so this weekend we're going to fight fire with fire."
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Addin Fonua-Blake Try
While the Sharks have played finals football for the past three years, there has been a widely held belief they were a ball-wrecking front-rower away from genuinely contending for a premiership.
Fonua-Blake's arrival has immediately changed that, with the prop dominating his rivals this season.
The 29-year-old leads the league in post-contact metres with 976m and is the second prop in running metres with 2137m, a hair's breadth behind Brisbane's Pat Carrigan's 2142m.
Fisher-Harris has been restricted to seven games this season due to injuries and suspension and is averaging 99m a match.
Fonua-Blake has taken it to some of the best props in the game throughout the past few months, leading the Sharks to a string of impressive victories.
It didn't take long for his teammates to take notice, with hooker Blayke Brailey revealing the prop set the tone the moment he walked through the doors.
Match: Sharks v Warriors
Round 14 -
home Team
Sharks
6th Position
away Team
Warriors
3rd Position
Venue: Sharks Stadium, Sydney
"He's been the alpha male in our side," Brailey said. "If you need some hard running or a tough carry out of trouble, he's there to put his hand up.
"He's brought so much, not only on the field but off the field as well. He's grabbing the younger players and teaching them a few tricks in the middle. He's such a great player and a great person off the field too. He lightens the mood a lot so it's great to have him in our side and I enjoy playing with him."
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Addin Fonua-Blake Try
Cronulla's recruitment of Fonua-Blake started when it emerged the Warriors were willing to grant him an early release on compassionate grounds so he could return to Syndey.
Coach Craig Fitzgibbon quickly identified the value he could bring to the side and CEO Dino Mezzatesta sealed the deal with a clandestine harbour cruise in late 2023.
The Sharks may have had to wait 12 months for Fonua-Blake to arrive in the Shire, but he quickly exceeded all expectations.
"Addin is a wonderful individual and has a wonderful family," Mezzatesta told NRL.com. "He's been super impressive on the field and has been equally impressive off the field.
"We always knew what we were getting with him. We were getting firepower and strength to complement other areas of our squad. Knowing what he can bring, it was always going to be exciting to have him on the field and now it's more exciting to see what he's doing. We expected a lot but he has exceeded expectations."
Saturday's match will carry additional meaning for the Sharks, with hooker Blayke Brailey preparing to play his 150th NRL game.
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GF glory: Fifita breaks the Storm wall
The 26-year-old grew up supporting Cronulla and was in the stands when Michael Ennis delivered the pass from dummy-half to a barnstorming Andrew Fifita for the match-winning try in the 2016 grand final.
Brailey has developed a similar combination with Fonua-Blake throughout the first half of the season, with the pair combining for three tries already.
The Sharks junior has dreamt of winning a title his entire life and hopes his connection with the star prop could be the missing piece in the side's premiership quest.
"When he first came in it was hard to recognise when to give him the ball or how much time to take away," Brailey said. "We don't want to make his job difficult and early on I thought if I just pass him the ball he could score out of nothing.
"Now we're working on that combination and hopefully I'll get him some more tries over the next few weeks."
