Lions travel to Shark tank for rematch one week on

Only a week since they last played each other, ACU Cronulla Sharks and Sydney University Lions will square off in the OVO Play live stream match of the week this Sunday.

ACU Cronulla Sharks men’s head coach Predag Mihailovic was focused on taking the OVO Australian Waterpolo League steady, not wanting to look too far ahead.

“We are taking it game by game, day by day, I am not looking too far forward.

“I want us to improve our game around fitness levels to make it more comfortable in the tough matches,” he said.

Speaking about the Sharks last match against the Lions last Sunday Mihailovic and his team are expecting more of the same from the Lions.

“It was quite physical, and they used their extra man very well.

“We will focus on our support play and make some adjustments to our extra man down defence.”

Sydney University Lions men’s head coach Dusan Krstic does have his eye on the finals and is driving his team to finish well.

“We are trying to aim for the best possible position, top two would be good for confidence and give the boys a good break heading into the finals.

“I think that when you have a team that has played together for a long time like both teams, you are not trying to change much week to week.

“We hope we’ll have a good game again, but it is always tough against the Sharks,” he said.

The Lions will enter the match full strength and are buoyed by the return of Scott Nicholson who was away last week.

ACU Cronulla Sharks women’s head coach Rebecca Rippon has a team about to embark on six games in under two weeks.

“It is hard to put all of our focus on just one team, so we are focusing on gaps in our own game which we must improve to give us a chance,” she said.

Her message to the team before they dive in will be simple.

“I will just remind my team about the type of game we want to play in the pool and make sure they are ready to fire.”

“If you don't come out ready to fight every single game you risk losing because every team is competitive,” she said.

Rippon understands the Lions widespread power.

“The Lions are a strong, fast and experienced team, their total level of experience is something that is impressive before they even dive in the pool.

“Everyone in my team has played well in patches so far but I am looking for a bit more consistency individually.

“I would like to see Amy Ridge take the lead in attack and defence as a current senior player,” she said.

Sydney University Lions women’s head coach Debbie Watson says the amount of personnel change from last season to this season has meant her side hasn’t talked about being defending champions.

“We have had up to nine people change from last year in the full squad.

“We have already debuted a couple of very young athletes this season, Carla Traplin, Siani Swarbrick, Lily Hawthorn, Georgia Dyson, Matilda Kearns to name a few who are all performing really well.

“We lost our goalkeeper, centre forward and Spanish International.  We haven’t compared the two seasons because it’s such a new team, so we are not thinking about previous results.

One Lions player coach Watson pointed out was Danielle Morrisey.

“She was injured last year, but has definitely stepped it up this year and the workload she is getting through is incredible. She has handled the step up and change really well.”

Speaking about her team’s chances to back up last Sunday with another victory Watson was wary of the Sharks ability.

“They have some really good players and on the day anything can happen, but we’ll also be going into it 100 per cent committed,” she said.

To view full fixtures for this weekend click here.

Can’t make it down to the shark tank? Watch it via OVO Play.

ACU Cronulla Sharks vs Sydney University Lions

Sunday March 4, Sutherland Leisure Centre

Women’s match 11:00am AEDT

Men’s match 12:30pm AEDT