View source for Shellharbour Sharks

{{short description|Australian rugby league club, based in Wollongong, NSW}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Infobox rugby league club
  | clubname   = Shellharbour City Sharks RLFC
  | image      = [[File:Shellharbour Sharks.jpg|150x150px]] <!-- an image is optional  -->
  | fullname   = {{nowrap|''Shellharbour City Sharks RLFC''}}
  | nickname   = 
  | short name =
  | colours    = {{color box|Maroon}} Maroon <br> {{color box|Gold}} Gold
  | website    = http://www.shellharboursharks.com/
  | founded    = {{start date and age|1920}}
  | ground     = Ron Costello Oval
  | capacity   =
  | chairman   = Allan Cody
  | Owner      =
  | ceo        =
  | coach      = Abed Atallah
  | captain    = James Ralphs
  | premierships = 6
  | premiershipyears = 1939, 1962, 1971, 1973, 2001, 2018
  | runnerups  =
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  | minorpremierships =
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  | spoons     =
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  | cap =
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}}
The Shellharbour City Sharks are a [[Country Rugby League]] club founded in 1920 located on the South Coast of NSW that compete in the South Coast [[Group 7 Rugby League|Group 7]] competition.

==Club Info==
===History===
Shellharbour City RLFC has a 113-year history{{citation needed|date=July 2014}}, originally existed as a rugby union club, before switching to rugby league in 1920.

The club have won five first-grade premierships in total, as well as over 30 reserve, third, and under-18 premierships. The club's inaugural first grade premiership was in 1939.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1939-08-18 |title=Rugby League |page=13 |work=[[Illawarra Mercury]] |publisher=National Library of Australia |location=Wollongong |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133008511 |access-date=2018-04-18}}</ref> The last premiership was won in 2018.

The Shellharbour LGA itself forms the southern part of the Greater Wollongong urban area.

===Shellharbour City Marlins/Dragons===
In 2007, Shellharbour City struck a deal with [[NRL]] side the [[St. George Illawarra Dragons]] and thus created a new team and entered themselves into the [[NSWRL]] [[Jim Beam Cup]] with the name [[Shellharbour City Dragons|Shellharbour City Marlins]] using the colours as their parent club. It is rumoured that the name Marlins was chosen to differentiate themselves from any [[Cronulla Sharks]] sides. The Shellharbour Sharks still competed in Group 7 Rugby League competition during this time. During 2008, the Dragons leagues club however did not give the same backing to Sharks, instead the Sharks stayed alive through other sponsorship deals, most notably Corban KIA.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Roots |first=Chris |date=2008-01-02 |title=Dragons let us down: Marlins |work=Illawarra Mercury |url=https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/602771/dragons-let-us-down-marlins/ }}</ref> 2009 saw a change in direction again with both the Sharks side moving into the [[Illawarra Rugby League|Illawarra Carlton League]] and the Marlins side moving into the [[NSW Cup]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keeble |first=Tim |date=2008-09-25 |title=Sharks, Marlins make big moves |work=Illawarra Mercury |url=https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/609911/sharks-marlins-make-big-moves/ }}</ref> This resulted in the Marlins changing their name to '''Shellharbour City Dragons''' and consequently changing their strip to the more famous Red-V.

The club moved back to Group 7 from the Illawarra League in 2014.
===Ron Costello Oval===
Ron Costello Oval (formally Fuller Park) has been the home of Shellharbour City Rugby League Football Club since the mid-1950s.

==Notable Juniors==
* [[Ron Costello]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[Western Suburbs Magpies|Wests]], [[Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs|Canterbury]], [[New South Wales Rugby League|NSW]], and [[Australian national rugby league team|Australian Kangaroo]]. The club's home ground, Ron Costello Oval, is named after him.
* [[Luke Bailey (rugby league)|Luke Bailey]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[St. George Illawarra Dragons|St George Illawarra]], [[Gold Coast Titans|Gold Coast]] captain, NSW and Australian front row forward.
* [[Matt Cooper (rugby league)|Matt Cooper]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[St. George Illawarra Dragons|St George Illawarra]], NSW, and Australian centre
* [[Dan Hunt]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[St. George Illawarra Dragons|St George Illawarra]] and [[Country Rugby League|Country]] prop.
* [[Trent Merrin]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[St. George Illawarra Dragons|St George Illawarra]], Country, NSW and Australian Lock.
* [[Adam Docker (rugby league)|Adam Docker]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[Penrith Panthers]]
*[[Euan Aitken]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[St. George Illawarra Dragons|St George Illawarra]]
*[[Jai Field]] <span data-noir-inline-color="" data-noir-inline-caret-color="">–</span> [[St. George Illawarra Dragons|St George Illawarra]]

==Honours==
* '''[[Group 7 Rugby League]] Premierships: 6'''
:: 1939, 1962, 1971, 1973, 2001, 2018
::
* '''Second Grade Premierships: 14'''
:: 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1983, 1990, 2001,2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
* '''Third Grade Premierships: 2'''
:: 1971, 1977
* '''Group 7 U-18's Premierships: 11'''
:: 1944, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1964, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2020
* '''[[Illawarra Rugby League|Illawarra]] U-18's Premierships: 3'''
:: 2009, 2010, 2012

''Source:'' <ref>{{Cite web |title=Trophy Room |url=http://www.sportingpulse.com/trophyroom.cgi?c=0-2373-83958-159122-10253808 |access-date=2015-10-16 |website=FOX SPORTS PULSE}}</ref>{{failed verification |date=September 2020}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.sportingpulse.com/club_info.cgi?c=1-2373-83958-0-0 Shellharbour Sharks Illawarra District Homepage]
* [http://www.sportingpulse.com/club_info.cgi?c=1-2379-21326-0-0&sID=161452 Shellharbour Sharks Junior South Coast District Homepage]
* [http://www.shellharboursharks.com.au/ Sharks clubpage]
* [http://crlnsw.com.au/ Country Rugby League Homepage]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20210806160615/http://southcoast.leaguenet.com.au/ South Coast Rugby League Homepage]
* [http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?c=0-2373-0-0-0 Illawarra District League]

{{Group 7 Rugby League}}
{{Illawarra Rugby League}}
{{Country Rugby League}}

[[Category:Rugby league teams in Wollongong]]
[[Category:St. George Illawarra Dragons]]
[[Category:Rugby clubs established in 1920]]
[[Category:1920 establishments in Australia]]
[[Category:South Coast (New South Wales)]]