1 week Ago By Scott Bailey
Cronulla's under-fire spine has stood up to help deliver the Sharks a crucial 24-18 win over Manly in Perth. Fresh off the back of two straight losses, Cronulla withstood waves of early ball against them before breaking the Sea Eagles' backs before halftime. The Sharks led 14-6 and 24-12 in the second half, before two long-range intercepts let Manly back into the game on both occasions.
But the Sharks were ultimately able to hold on, leaving both sides with a 3-3 record after six rounds. Fullback Will Kennedy was superb in the win, Braydon Trindall set up two tries, while Nicho Hynes and Blayke Brailey both pulled the right rein at key moments. Their performances came after Cronulla failed to ask enough questions in last week's loss to Canberra, and as the Sea Eagles missed their main threat Tom Trbojevic.
Manly could desperately have done with their star fullback's spark at several stages in Saturday's match, after spending the early stages camped in Cronulla's half. But while they were often too sideways and ran themselves into corners, Cronulla produced in key moments. After a scoreless opening 35 minutes, Sam Stonestreet did well to break the game's duck when he hung onto a Trindall cut-out pass and dotted down.
Trindall and Stonestreet then combined to make it a double blow on halftime, when the winger dove on a grubber kick from his five-eighth. The second half was all Kennedy. He was denied a 90-metre effort from a kick return when Stonestreet was ruled to have provided an escort run on the chase.
But the fullback wouldn't be denied later on, benefiting from a Jesse Ramien offload when he stepped, dummied and beat five defenders to the line. Kennedy had earlier produced a key moment in defence, denying a Manly try when he stuck out his foot to trap a grubber kick after a Sea Eagles break. And when Manly got back to 14-12 courtesy of a 90-metre Luke Brooks intercept, it was Hynes and Trindall who slowed down the comeback.
Linking up on the left edge, Hynes produced a double-pump pass to catch out the defence and give Ronaldo Mulitalo the space to send Mawene Hiroti over. Brailey also had a smart play late, putting Tom Hazelton over for a try with a short ball from dummy-half when Manly expected a field goal attempt at 18-12. That try ultimately proved crucial, ensuring the Sharks had enough of a bubble when a late Tommy Talau intercept led to Daly Cherry-Evans' 79th-minute try.
Manly have now lost two in a row without Trbojevic, taking their record without the fullback to 16 wins in 49 games since the start of 2021. The No.1 won't return from a knee injury against St George Illawarra on Thursday night, but is some chance of coming back the week after against Penrith.
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