Nicho Hynes had a point to prove to New South Wales selectors when he turned out for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at PointsBet Stadium.
Result
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 48
Tries: Teig Wilton 8th; Braden Hamlin-Uele 17th; Ronaldo Mulitalo 24th; Cameron McInnes 33rd; Jack Williams 36th; Thomas Hazelton 47th; Briton Nikora 54th; Jesse Ramien 59th
Goals: Nicho Hynes 10th, 12th, 19th, 35th, 37th, 48th, 55th, 61st
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 10
Tries: Kyle Flanagan 30th; Kurtis Morrin 71st
Goals: Kyle Flanagan 72nd
Report
The final game of round 16 saw the Sharks host the Bulldogs at PointsBet Stadium.
Cronulla were at full strength with Nicho Hynes available after being dropped after New South Wales loss to Queensland in Origin game 1.
The Bulldogs were without Matt Burton who was promoted to the Blues 18th man following Latrell Mitchell’s withdrawal from the side with a calf problem.
It was one-way traffic in the opening forty with the Sharks running in five tries to one taking a 30-4 lead into the break.
The Bulldogs conceded their biggest half-time lead in 2023 (previously 26-6 Vs Rabbitohs on Good Friday) and conceded some soft tries through the middle with Braden Hamlin-Uele, Cam McInnes and Jack Williams crossing.
The only joy for the Bulldogs was Kyle Flanagan’s run from dummy half resulting in a try on the half hour.
There was little difference to proceedings in the opening twenty minutes of the second half with Cronulla laying on a further three tries including one to Briton Nikora, crossing in his 100th NRL appearance for the club.
It appeared that the Sharks were on their way to scoring 50 points with ease and becoming the first side since the Panthers in 2008 to score a half century of points after conceding as many the match prior.
A consolation try to Kurtis Morrin with ten minutes reduced the margin to 38 points but there’s a lot of work still to be done for Cameron Ciraldo’s men who’ve now conceded 407 points in fifteen matches this season.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Blayke Brailey (Sharks)
2 – Nicho Hynes (Sharks)
1 – Dale Finucane (Sharks)
