Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks have proved too good for the Wests Tigers at Scully Park in Tamworth.
MATCHDAY RESULTS
SCOREBOARD
Wests Tigers 12
Tries: Fa’amanu Brown (13), Luke Garner (56)
Goals: Adam Doueihi 2 (14, 57)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 36
Tries: Lachlan Miller (5), Matt Ikuvalu (9), Royce Hunt (19), Kade Dykes (21), Braden Hamlin-Uele (52), Jesse Ramien (61)
Goals: Nicho Hynes 6 (6, 11, 20, 23, 34, 54)
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty ImagesNicho Hynes has led the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to an impressive 36-12 victory over the Wests Tigers.
In front of a capacity crowd at Tamworth’s Scully Park, Hynes was instrumental in setting up a comfortable 26-6 lead at the break as the Tigers side struggled to keep up with an up-tempo Sharks outfit.
He set up the first try for Lachlan Miller with a kick out wide before Braydon Trindall did likewise on the other side in sending Matt Ikuvalu over.
Handling errors and poor online defence defined the Wests Tigers night, with Royce Hunt making it look easy in the Sharks third.
The try of the night went to Kade Dykes with his first NRL try after Hynes put Ramien clear, before Miller kicked back inside for the Sharks fullback to score.
With the Sharks taking a comfortable twenty-point lead at the break, they appeared to take the pedal off with two second half tries coming to Braden Hamlin-Uele and Jesse Ramien, both a result of turnovers from Brent Naden.
A suspected MCL injury to Toby Rudolf fifteen minutes from full-time adds further injury concerns to the Sharks side who were already without Matt Moylan, Connor Tracey, Will Kennedy and the late withdrawal of Siosifa Talakai.
Luke Garner’s try was a highlight for the Tigers coming from an offload by rookie forward Fonua Pole. They could have been unlucky not to have scored through Naden while Teig Wilton was in the sin bin for a late hit on Daine Laurie. His try overturned on a soft obstruction call by the Bunker.
The Sharks draw level with North Queensland Cowboys following their loss to the Roosters earlier today and would feel confident with a favourable run home that they could host a week 1 finals match.
For the Tigers, they battled hard in the second half without much success. Their campaign doesn’t get any better next week when they face the red-hot Roosters.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – Nicho Hynes (Sharks), 2 pts – Royce Hunt (Sharks), 1 pt – Lachlan Miller (Sharks)
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