The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs hosted the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at Accor Stadium. Jack Harbidge reviews.
Result
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 33
Tries: (5) William Kennedy 6th, 9th 22nd; Matt Moylan 41st; Sione Katoa 56th
Goals: (6) Nicho Hynes 8th, 10th, 23rd, 43rd, 57th, 75th
One-Point Field Goals: (1) Nicho Hynes 79th
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 20
Tries: (3) Brandon Burns 18th; Declan Casey 36th; Corey Waddell 67th
Goals: (4) Matt Burton 4th, 19th, 37th; Kyle Flanagan 68th
One-Point Field Goals: N/A
Report
Matt Burton opened the scoring with a penalty goal, but it wasn’t long before Will Kennedy took the lead for the Sharks and Nicho Hynes converted to put them in the lead.
The aerial assault continued and Kennedy put the Sharks further in the lead – with just nine minutes played – off the back of a Matt Moylan bomb.
The Bulldogs wouldn’t be without a score however, and Braidon Burns crossed to allow Matt Burton to cut the lead to four. The two sides traded sets and went into the half-time sheds with the Sharks in the lead 18-14 (Kennedy completing his hat-trick) with both sides hunting the win.
Cronulla came out the better of the two sides from the sheds and were gifted a left-hand set up for Ronaldo Mulitalo to supply Moylan in the corner. Hynes converted and the Cronulla Sharks led by 10.
It wasn’t long, however, before Cronulla broke the Canterbury defence again and Hynes wasted a valuable, and potential, scoring possession. The Dogs continued to battle though, and soaked up multiple attacks on their own line before Sione Katoa crossed untouched to stretch the lead to 14. Hynes landed the conversion and Cronulla led by 16.
The Dogs pressed a hardy Cronulla defence in the final 20 minutes only to come up with nothing, while Cronulla spread their own defence to combat a wide shift from the Bulldogs that could only find the touchline.
Canterbury built on their pressure and it eventually paid off, with Corey Waddell scoring and Kyle Flanagan converting to make the score 30-20 to the Sharks.
Cronulla created opportunities to extend their lead but couldn’t convert through the last 10 minutes, and instead left Hynes to slot a late penalty goal and one-point field goal, securing a top four spot on the ladder.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Nicho Hynes (Sharks)
2 – William Kennedy (Sharks)
1 – Matt Burton (Bulldogs)
