Hollywoodbets Sharks’ captain, Andre Esterhuizen, said he will not be playing as a loose forward for the Hollywoodbets Sharks, stating he believes the team has enough class players in that position. He is primarily a centre and currently captains the team from the inside centre position.
Esterhuizen said he believes that the Stormers will be much better at Hollywoodbets Kings Park than they were at DHL Stadium. However, he also said that the Sharks will lift their game on Saturday.
“For us to play a game like that when we feel there is still so much to improve on is a good sign. We have plenty of motivation for this weekend. We won in Cape Town, but the result didn’t lift us into the top eight, which is where we want to be.
"We’ve set ourselves the goal of getting into the top six, which we feel will give us the best chance of winning the competition from where we are now.
“It was a big win for us in Cape Town, but we know we must do it again. This is the last game before a break, and we’d like to go into that break in a good mind space. So there really is massive motivation for us this weekend.
"We know the Stormers will be fired up to come and prove a point. They would have felt they had a bad day last week, so we expect the best from them. But we know what is coming and will be going out to put pressure on them again.”
Esterhuizen refused to take credit that the Sharks head coach JP Pietersen credited him with for the turnaround of the Sharks’ season.
“It definitely was not me who turned it around. The plan got buy-in from all the players, everyone is on the same page, and there has been a changed mindset throughout the group,” he said.
“We’ve lifted our standards, we have lifted our training levels, and I am a big believer that if you train better, then you play better. But most of all, it has been a mindset change, a focus on everyone performing at their best, every weekend.”
