Cronulla have continued their recent dominance over their local rivals with a thumping 52-16 win over St George Illawarra in Cronulla on Thursday night.
Result
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 52
Tries: (9) Briton Nikora 24th, 76th; Ronaldo Mulitalo 55th, 70th; Nicho Hynes 7th; Jesse Ramien 31st; Thomas Hazelton 39th; William Kennedy 59th; Siosifa Talakai 68th
Goals: (8) Nicho Hynes 11th, 26th, 34th, 40th, 57th, 69th, 73rd, 77th
St George Illawarra Dragons 16
Tries: (3) Mikaele Ravalawa 2nd; Tautau Moga 20th; Tyrell Sloan 50th
Goals: (2) Zac Lomax 3rd, 51st
Report
The Dragons lived up to their nickname for a change and started the game on fire, forcing a mistake from the Sharks in the first attacking set of the match with some aggressive defence, then taking full advantage by scoring in their first set when Mikaele Ravalawa shrugged off Sharks defenders to slam the ball down in the corner. Zac Lomax nailed the sideline conversion for an early 6-0 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to bite back, and the home side scored with their first crack in the opposition 20 metre zone: and it was too easy for Nicho Hynes, who strolled to the line untouched from 10 metres out, unlike Hynes’ conversion which went over off the post.
St George Illawarra re-took the lead on the 20-minute mark when Tautau Moga crashed over in the corner after the play was set up by Ben Hunt, who was showing no early signs of a lack of interest despite his off-field issues with the club. Then came a funny moment in the next set for the Dragons where referee Grant Atkins took a direct hit from a fifth tackle kick by the Dragons.
It wasn’t very funny for the Dragons not long after, as the Sharks hit back with two tries and took the lead. First, Briton Nikora ran off a Hynes pass for a second try on their right where the tryscorer was untouched. Then, within sight of half-time Cronulla, extended their lead, and again the Dragons’ defensive work was poor. This time it was a cross-field kick from Matt Moylan that Jesse Ramien took while Dragons defenders all stood and watched: no-one attempt to catch the ball. Two more conversions made it 18-10.
Cronulla rubbed salt into the Dragons’ wounds with a try just on half-time when Thomas Hazelton ran onto yet another try-assisting pass from Hynes close to the line. After promising early signs, St George Illawarra were down 24-10 at half-time.
The Dragons were a little quiet to start the second half, but their fullback Tyrell Sloan exploded into life in the 50th minute, going almost the length of the field, after another Sharks fifth tackle bomb went uncontested by his teammates. The conversion had St George Illawarra going in the right direction at 24-16.
But again, and like the first half, Cronulla hit back soon enough to extend their lead. This time Moylan orchestrated a blindside move on the fifth tackle, where Wade Graham and Siosifa Talakai were involved, before Ronaldo Mulitalo put on the acrobatics to score. Not long after Will Kennedy got a just reward for his efforts on the night with a 30-metre run and try, with the line-breaking pass being thrown by Hynes again. Hynes missed his first conversion of the night from the second of those tries, but Cronulla still led 34-16. The contest was now over, with just the margin to be decided.
Cronulla scored again in the 68th minute, when Siosifa Talakai steamrolled his way to the tryline through multiple defenders close to the line (like the old times of 2022), the ball coming straight from dummy half Blayke Brailey. The Sharks had hit 40 points, and more came with their next set with Talakai involved again. The Sharks centre provided two grubber kicks down the sideline, with Mulitalo waiting patiently with the second kick to score.
The Sharks signed off the game in style with a ninth try and passing 50 points, as Briton Nikora charged onto a Moylan pass after Hunt appeared to do a star jump instead of attempting to tackle Moylan. Nikora finished the try with his shorts pulled down. But it was really the Dragons who had their pants pulled down by the Sharks on Thursday night, and another poor showing in a bad season that can’t end quick enough for Hunt and everybody.
It was a seventh win in a row for the Sharks over the Dragons, a sixth straight home win at Shark Park on a Thursday, and their first win after a bye in 2023. Hynes did himself no harm of a State of Origin recall in his chosen position.
St George Illawarra tried hard, and were right in the game in the first 20 minutes or so, but faded badly in the second half. It was their ninth loss from nine games away from home in 2023. They remain the only team not to win on the road this season.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Nicho Hynes (Sharks)
2 – Will Kennedy (Sharks)
1 – Blayke Brailey (Sharks)
