KEY POINTS:
Sharks wing Luke Covell is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses in the NRL.
He's been called the slowest winger around and it's not a claim he'll take issue with.
Earlier this season the Sharks lost 14-12 to the Tigers, 13-12 to the Roosters, 20-16 to Newcastle.
Those are defeats Covell feels deeply, given he's the team goalkicker and putting the ball between the uprights might have snatched victories.
"I vowed I wouldn't let it happen again," he says.
Speed and goalkicking are the two facets of his game Covell works most on.
He has Graham Arnold from Australian soccer working on his kicking rhythm and momentum. The rest is mental, Covell says.
If you miss one or two it's natural to try too hard, to over-examine your technique, make unnecessary changes and miss another one.
"Your mental preparation has to be good so you go back to what you know you do well."
His speed is average in terms of his teammates, worse than average in terms of NRL wings. "I'm constantly working to improve that, I'm definitely not known for my pace."
He takes confidence from other parts of his game and concentrates on doing what he does do, well.
"I see my strength as decision-making, putting myself in the right place at the right time.
"I like to make sure I do all the little things right, the 1 per cent plays, and making as few mistakes as possible."
The coaches like his work, because Covell has been a regular starter for Cronulla over three seasons under two coaches - Stuart Raper and now Ricky Stuart.
Covell, 25, was born and raised on the New South Wales northern coast and the Gold Coast. His father Bruce is a Gisborne-born and raised construction worker, and his mother Shelley is an Australian.
He played soccer to age 10 and with a field across the road from home, honed his kicking skills constantly with the round ball, a factor he said is paying off in his goalkicking now.
He got a break with Wests Tigers when he was 20 but now admits it may have been too early. He made his debut in 2003 but couldn't hold a starting spot, playing lots of reserve grade.
"When the offer came from the Sharks I was already living in Cronulla. I love it here, I didn't want to shift so I decided to give it everything, I didn't want to let another chance slip by as I had at Wests," he says.
He played 22 games in 2005, 24 in 2006 and all 13 so far in 2007.
Resilience is another of his pluses, while he admits he's been lucky with lack of injury.
The club has undergone some turmoil in recent years - Chris Anderson sacked as coach before Raper's departure.
"You can't let any of that bother you," Covell says.
When Stuart came in, a notoriously grumpy, intense and at times over-wrought character, Covell accepted fate.
"He is intense at times but it's times when he has to be, he picks his moods to try and get the best out of us." The Sharks are learning and improving under the former Australian coach, he says.
With a New Zealand background, Covell qualifies for the Kiwis. He's already told the NZRL he'll gratefully and proudly accept selection if called on.
Playing the Warriors is always something of a season highlight. He knows his uncles and aunts "back home" in Gisborne and elsewhere in New Zealand will all be watching.
It was the last game against the Warriors, won 22-20 in round eight, that set the Sharks up for a run of gutsy performances to win tough games, Covell says.
"It's always a big test for us because they are so physical. We took a lot of heart from that win."
The game wound down with Covell lining up a penalty shot at goal from about 30m out and 20m from touch, usually in easy range for him. He missed. There were mutterings later about Stuart having sent out a message to Covell to miss, so the ball stayed deep in Warriors territory for the sparse seconds left to play - within the laws but perhaps not the spirit of the contest.
Covell was reluctant to give details because he didn't want to stir the pot. Did he deliberately miss or not?
"People can say what they like, I don't know what to say, it's a technical point."
But surely it can't be easy to miss after all that practice at nailing the posts?
"It wasn't," he blurted out. "After I kicked it I thought, 'Oh no, it's going to go over'."
Luke Covell
* Born: November 9, 1981, Goondawindi
* 1.86m, 98kg wing/centre
* NRL debut for Wests Tigers 2003
* 59 NRL games for the Sharks since club debut 2005
* Career: 81 games, 256 goals, 27 tries
* Kicking accuracy rate 89 per cent, third-best in the NRL
