- Working with the Cronulla Sharks as a speed coach
Sunrise star and former Olympic sprinter Matt Shirvington has joined the Cronulla Sharks as their speed coach ahead of the 2026 NRL season.
Shirvington, 47, who qualified for the 100m semi-finals on the track at the Sydney Games in 2000, was invited to the Shire by head coach Craig Fitzgibbon and specialist coach Tony Grimaldi.
The Channel 7 fan favourite is a life-long Manly Sea Eagles supporter after growing up on Sydney’s northern beaches, but Shirvington has put loyalty to one side as the Sharks chase their first premiership since 2016.
‘Shirvo’ has also previously worked with the Dragons and Bulldogs – and he places emphasis on three key elements – acceleration, agility and top speed.
He also believes Cronulla are in for a big year, if their conditioning at training was any guide.
‘The guys are moving really well – they’re super fast from a standing start right through to top speed. They are looking really good,’ Shirvington said.
Sunrise star and former Olympic sprinter Matt Shirvington has joined the Cronulla Sharks as their speed coach
Shirvington who qualified for the 100m semi-finals at the Sydney Games in 2000, was invited to the Shire by head coach Craig Fitzgibbon and specialist coach Tony Grimaldi
‘And their agility – arguably the best team I’ve seen in the way they move around the field. They’re very impressive at the moment.’
Among the fastest athletes in Australian history, Shirvington famously ran a 100m time of 10.03 seconds at the 1998 Commonwealth Games as a teenager.
It comes after Shirvington revealed last October he was surprisingly asked to represent Australia at the Winter Olympics and compete in bobsleigh.
However, he turned the left-field opportunity down in order to race at the 2000 Olympics in his home city.
While speaking on Sunrise, Shirvington explained he had been tapped up by Australian selectors over a possibility to get into bobsleigh.
It came during an interview with Aussie bobsleigh star Jermayne Takapautolo.
‘You know what, they asked me to do that,’ Shirvington said.
‘It’s a whole other story,’ he added, with his co-host Nat Barr stunned by the revelation.
The Channel 7 fan favourite is a life-long Manly Sea Eagles supporter, but he has put loyalty to one side as the Sharks chase their first premiership since 2016
It comes after Shirvington revealed last October he was surprisingly asked to represent Australia at the Winter Olympics and compete in bobsleigh
Barr then quizzed Shirvington as to whether the selectors approached him because of his pure pace on the track.
‘It’s all about the push, apparently,’ he responded. ‘Then you just jump in and hold on.’
Barr pressed further: ‘Did you think about it?’ to which Shirvington responded: ‘I considered it.
He added: ‘But when I actually did some training, I thought: ‘Why am I training for this when I could be training for running?
