The Sharks are back in the winner’s circle after staving off a second-half comeback from the Eels to seal a 28-18 win in the opening clash of Magic Round.
It was a “scarppy” win as star half Nicho Hynes said to Fox League post-game but despite losing Siosifa Talakai to a head knock and Jesse Colquhoun to the sin bin, Cronulla held on.
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The Sharks made a statement early through KL Iro, who scored in his return from injury thanks to a cutout pass from star half Nicho Hynes.
After a grinding period of end-to-end footy, the game took a chaotic turn in the final eight minutes of the first half.
Talakai was taken from the field for a HIA and then ruled out of the rest of the game after his head collided with the back side of Isaiah Iongi in a tackle. It was a cruel blow for Talakai, who had only come onto the field 76 seconds earlier.
Less than a minute later the battle between the halves heated up when Braydon Trindall put an early hit on Mitch Moses. The collision left Moses rattled, while Trindall — who started mouthing off afterwards — was placed on report.
The Eels got on the board through tryscoring machine Josh Addo-Carr, who crossed for his seventh Magic Round try — the most of any player since the inception of the footy festival eight years ago.
But their joy was short-lived with Cronulla’s Briton Nikora running a stunning line to get his side out to a six-point lead heading into half time.
The Sharks picked up where they left off in the second half with Sam Stonestreet scoring in the corner after Hynes and Will Kennedy combined in a pretty set play.
But they copped a setback when Colquhoun was sin-binned for a professional foul. The Sharks forward was given his marching orders after pulling Dylan Brown back without the ball as the Eels five-eight attempted to support Moses following a linebreak.
Despite being one man down, the Sharks extended their lead through workhorse forward Cameron McInnes.
However, the night wasn’t over the Eels, who scored two tries in two minutes to set up a thrilling finish. Addo-Carr crossed for his second of the night before Moses and Dylan Brown combined with the latter scoring.
But the Sharks iced the game when Stonestreet crossed for his second in the 71st minute.
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TEAMS
Sharks team: 1. William Kennedy 2. Samuel Stonestreet 3. Jesse Ramien 4. KL Iro 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Addin Fonua-Blake 9. Blayke Brailey 17. Thomas Hazelton 11. Briton Nikora 12. Billy Burns 13. Cameron McInnes 10. Oregon Kaufusi 15. Siosifa Talakai 16. Braden Hamlin-Uele 20. Jesse Colquhoun 18th man: 14. Daniel Atkinson
Titans team: 1. Isaiah Iongi 2. Bailey Simonsson 3. Viliami Penisini 4. Sean Russell 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Dylan Brown 7. Mitchell Moses 8. Jack Williams 9. Ryley Smith 10. Junior Paulo 11. Charlie Guymer 12. Kitione Kautoga 13. J’maine Hopgood 14. Dylan Walker 15. Luca Moretti 17. Sam Tuivaiti 22. Jordan Samrani. 18th man: 19. Joash Papali’i
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