Sharks captain Johann Muller is happy for his team to be seen as full of “egos” as they prepare to play their crucial match against the Waratahs.
“If you are in a team not believing you are the better team, or the better player, you are not going to win one game. A team without egos is definitely not a good team,” Muller said.
Rupert Guinness writes for Rugby heaven Aus that Muller’s remarks came after Waratahs flanker Ben Mowen’s comment this week that a team like the Sharks with egos “can be rattled”. Muller, a Springboks second-rower, believes his side has the credentials to walk tall and proud, as it does. He also says that they must do so to win the Super 14.
“Some people call it ego. Some people call it experience. And some people will probably say something nasty about it. But I think it is really important,” Muller said. “Probably five or six guys in the squad played in the World Cup final, the Currie Cup final and the Super 14 final in 2007 and semi-finals last year. From all these experiences you definitely learn something.
“This [Sharks-Waratahs] game is a final. If we want to be the best we have to win four weeks in a row. The one that loses [on Saturday] is probably very close to being out of the running.”
Muller said running on before near-capacity crowds at their home ground helps to stir passion in the players.
“[Playing before] 35 to 42,000 people every Saturday is something special,” he said. “It is hard to explain, but when you run on and see that stadium full it makes a big difference.”
Muller believes the Sharks, placed fourth on 35 points, and the fifth-placed Waratahs on 32 points have ridden a similar journey towards this crucial round-13 fixture. But Muller agrees the Sharks, early competition leaders, have shown signs of mental weakness under pressure and that was highlighted by their losses to the Crusaders and Cheetahs. But he attributes that more to the fatigue of playing 10 straight games, the long distance travel and varying time zones.
“After all that hard work overseas, winning three out of four and coming back, we let it slip a bit,” Muller said. “Our loss to the Cheetahs and Crusaders were two mighty blows for us. The same happened to the Waratahs. They lost two games [to the Bulls and Force] before their bye.
“It takes a lot on the body and mind to have 10 straight weeks of games. Having the bye so late was really against us and the Waratahs. You get so tired you forget to do the small things. We did let ourselves down a little bit. We are still in the running. But if you lose this weekend, you could end up ninth. Or, if you win, you could end up first.”
Last year the Sharks lost to the Waratahs in the regular season and in their semi-final. “We got embarrassed twice last year by the Waratahs,” Muller said.
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having to much of an ego lets you lose against the bottom feeders, confidence and modisty gets along better
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@JarsonX (Comment 1) :
Yup, the egos don’t seem to work against the nobodies.
Shut up and play the game boys.
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to use camp and ego in the same sentence is gay.
@JarsonX (Comment 1) : agree. Would prefer it if Joe had left this bit of bait alone
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@robdylan (Comment 4) :
Yup.
Simply re-affirms what the Tahs said – 15 ego’s, not 1 team
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“Ego is not a dirty word in this camp”
It should be…
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muller’s maths isn’t good. even with a bp the sharks can’t end first on the log. at best they can be 1 point behind the leader.
pink drinks and parades are not acceptable
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 7) : probably why he goes for penalties instead of tries.
@JarsonX (Comment 8) : keep it real
@JarsonX (Comment 8) : credit goes to blackshark
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 7) :
I think it is YOUR math that is wrong.
Add 10 points to our 35 gives us 45. If the three teams above us all lose then we are clearly at the top of the log and not 2nd.
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@KSA Shark © (Comment 12) : but not after this weekend
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@JarsonX (Comment 13) :
If it is a draw this weekend, then it is still possible for the Sharks to go top.
All unlikely but certainly possible.
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canes on 39, if they draw they get 2 which leaves them on 41, sharks has 35 add 5, 40. Wala!
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@JarsonX (Comment 15) : log points courtesy of SW
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i cannot believe it ksa has been stumped. it is rare, but special when it happens. i class this as my bells special moment.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 12) :
Dude are you American??
Math??
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@KSA Shark © (Comment 14) : thats why i said a draw is the worst possible result out of the canes chiefs game.
@JarsonX (Comment 15) :
Okay I thought you meant after this weekend they can no longer end first
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 17) : special times
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 17) :
That’s cos KSA Shark IS ‘special’
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@JarsonX (Comment 21) : with these new avatars, the liquor ads are really coming out.
@wpw (Comment 18) :
My kids are being educated in an American school, so i talk in there terminology.
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@KSA Shark © (Comment 20) : we all make mistakes
i couldve worded it better
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 23) : im thirsty
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weehoo. it looks like it is pick on ksa day today.
@JarsonX (Comment 26) : tell me about it. thank goodness we only miss one game this week due to work. my wife is going to hate me this weekend.
better buy extra ice for my whisky. 6 games 3 whiskeys a game, mmm now if i was ksa that would 15 whiskys.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 28) : im missing all of them but ill be checking in here, or the radio might work
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 29) :
it’s your math that was screwy not mine. You still believe that MATHEMATICLLY we can’t end top.
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 29) : a game???
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 29) :
Remember to STIR them whisky’s, wooden spoons work best.
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@KSA Shark © (Comment 31) : no i was commenting on mullers quote that said after this game the sharks could end on top. not after next weeks game. there is no way we can end top this weekend.
“But if you lose this weekend, you could end up ninth. Or, if you win, you could end up first.”
@JarsonX (Comment 32) : depends how thrilling they are. i drink more the better the game. but i’ll probably only start in the 15h00 game. although i might want one for the hurr vs chiefs game, that is going to be a nail biter.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 34) :
Note that he said “you” and not “we” so he was refering to the teams in the S14 and not the Sharks.
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@Salmonoid (Comment 33) : then my whiskys are well stirred today.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 36) : ja i also saw that, not very team-man like is it. sounds like he expects the team to do work for him, no wonder we are battling at the moment.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 38) :
No you can’t change the subject dude.
Muller was refering to the teams being able to end 1st or 9th not to the SHARKS being able to end 1st or 9th.
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re-read it in context. he is talking about the sharks. their isn’t a team that could be in first or ninth this weekend no matter what the result. it is one or the other. and as the rest of the quote was about the sharks, why would he suddenly talk up the other teams results. it sounds like you are trying to get out of being caught out.
the war of the words
its all the in the way you see it@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 35) : meant KSA, 15 a game 
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@KSA Shark © (Comment 39) : @try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 40) : i dont see how this fight can end in any other way than a draw
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@JarsonX (Comment 42) :
And i’ll be top of the log.
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2 dogs fights over a bone and the 3d one takes it, im the 3d dog
have to take TTs side on this one, saw it the same way, sorry
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 28) : Where you also stupid enough to marry a women that DOESN”T like rugby
Well at least when the Lions tour there won’t be THAT many games every weekend….or thats what I’m telling my wife anyway 
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 45) : maybe you should buy her THE Book
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@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 45) : fortunately i just get the cold shoulder for a day. which i fix on sunday when i do exactly what she wants. but if looks could kill. this site would be a peaceful place.
@rekinek (Comment 46) :
she doesn’t read. if it came in soapy form i would win. you should have seen the look i got last night when i wanted to watch boots and all and desperate housewives was on. i lost that one. if i was a boots and all sponsor i would tell them to move the show.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 47) : Never think that you can change a woman. I thought that after 6 years of marraige I would have taught her to enjoy rugby, but alas
but I started early on my baby girl…she is now 2 and a half and she already tells my wife on Saturdays…’kyk rugby mammie’ and Yeah Sharkies Yeah’
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 48) : I watched RE:Union this morning and even Grant Fox was saying that Adam Thomson should have been yellowcarded for a dive and going down on that slap from Rory
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 49) :
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 50) : missed Reunion this week
maybe Thomson should have been yellow carded – but still Rory had it coming for some time ..
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 48) : PvR
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@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 49) : my son is to hyper active to sit and watch a game. so i end up having to run around the house while keeping an eye on the tv. but when the sharks game starts, then its a case of honey he is yours.
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 50) : thats what i thought. he looked like a man united player.
@rekinek (Comment 51) : hey i am pleased rory is out this week. it will be good to see how good he is. absence is sometimes the best way to judge a players ability. if the team missed him then he deserves his spot.
no little rascals for me yet, although i have a hyper active lapdog
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@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 53) : I also have that arrangement…..when the Sharks game is on I am not disturbed
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 55) : i have a feeling that sharks will realize that they do not need rory so much…
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wheneve a sharks game is on, i sumtimes wish i was deaf, blind and sum would like me to be mute aswell
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@rekinek (Comment 58) : i have a similar feeling
@JarsonX (Comment 56) : i would like a hyper active lap dancer. (nou gaan die ka….)
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 57) : i used to lock myself in the spare room. needless to say there is no spare room anymore.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 53) :
SIS on you!! My kids are very good…untill the (sharks game ) starts…
But my temper is shorter than I am, and my voice rather much bigger than what I am… 
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@Prof. Ice (Comment 63) : i am not scared to admit, i am a guy and i can only focus on one thing at a time. and the sharks running around and my son at the same time is mind blowing.
@Prof. Ice (Comment 63) : With the last couple of Sharks games I had to restrain myself from uttering the profanities that the Sharks deserved. My daughter now picks up words very easily.
After the Saders game she asked me why I was angry and I told her ‘die Sharks is stout’ the next day at my parents place for a braai and she tell her grandparents how naughty the Sharks were…classic..the type of moments you remember.
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 65) : my son has learnt for f sake. we try not to laugh, but we are hoping he will forget it.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 64) :
Okay – as long as its about the lack to multitask and not because rugby is supposedly a “MAN’s” game..
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@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 65) :
Good on you – my restraint is not so good…
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 66) :
Although mine has for some mriaculously misterious reason NOT copy me…(YET)..
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@Prof. Ice (Comment 68) : yeah my son copies me with everything. i realised to late though. so i have been given a verbal from my wife. i am hoping the written won’t come soon.
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 69) : My daughter copies me when I start jumping up and down from exitement of anger. She thinks is hilarious
@try time (history forgets losers) (Comment 66) :
Try teach him a new word that has the sound of a lekker swearword to it, and then tell him he is not allowed to say that word…it worked with my Cuz…the new word was BoKsemdaais!
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@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 70) : you gotta love the little guys. they have such cool ways of seeing things.
@Prof. Ice (Comment 71) : i like it. duck cakes sounds good.
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 70) :
With a nic of “Pokkel” I would also think that it could be hilarious!!
Mine thinks the name for rugby is “YES!!!” – when the rugga is on tellie, she points and shouts Yes!! (see Mom is ALWAYS positive)
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ok guys you all have a good one. i am off. i’ll pop on later to catch up.
@Prof. Ice (Comment 74) : Eendag sal ek jou vertel waar Pokkel vandaan kom…en dit is nie omdat ek kort en dik is nie.
Cheers all. Have a lekka weekend.Go Sharks
@Pokkel (in Ruan I Trust) (Comment 76) :
Jy meen…nie NET omdat jy kort en dik is nie..
I’m outa here too!! Have a good weekend all!
Go SHARKS!!
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