NRL round 17: Cronulla Sharks pull off another miracle comeback to defeat Sydney Roosters
THEY’VE done it again. The Sharks have pulled off the comeback of the season – their second stunning victory in as many weeks.
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CRISIS, what crisis? Eight nights after landing the greatest comeback in the 47-year history of the club, the Cronulla Sharks have produced another miracle.
Call it the upset of the season, the scandal-plagued Shire outfit managed to overcome the sacking of Todd Carney, the walkout of fill-in coach Peter Sharp and a 24-0 deficit against defending premiers Sydney Roosters.
This was straight out of the Queensland State of Origin miracle try of 1994 play book or Muhammad Ali upstaging George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle, so steep was the mountain the Sharkies needed to climb. “No one gave us a hope. The funny thing about rugby league players is most of them tend to have a little bit of attitude,” Cronulla captain Wade Graham said.
“If you write them off, they like to step up to the mark and say, ‘I told you so’.”
Experienced halfback Jeff Robson scored the match-winner with two minutes remaining while captain Graham was also a heartbeat of the victory, dragging Cronulla back into the match when all looked lost.
Not only were the Sharks missing five regular stars in captain Paul Gallen, Luke Lewis, Andrew Fifita, John Morris and Chris Heighington, the Roosters were fielding a side with five internationals and two NSW discards.
Prior to kick-off, most were predicting the Roosters could rack up a cricket score, and after the opening 15 minutes, the onslaught looked on for all money.
The Sharks’ fill-in, fill-in coach James Shepherd could well be rugby league’s most invisible man. Yet at halftime, Shepherd reminded Cronulla they had been in a similar position against the
Broncos a week earlier and mustered the necessary minerals.
“I suppose you could call it a miracle or you could call it a tough performance from a group of men who are playing for each other,” Shepherd said.
If any club is conditioned to dealing with the sky being poised to fall in, it’s Cronulla. From the ongoing ASADA investigation to Carney’s bubbler antics going viral on social media last weekend, the Sharkies are well conditioned to getting blindsided.
Graham reasoned that, despite the disruptive week, the playing group always believed, even if the TAB had them listed at $6 to the Roosters’ $1.08.
“We put it to bed pretty early during the week, we all got together on Monday and we had our say and by Tuesday it was over,” Graham said.
“Over the last 18 months we’ve got pretty good at putting distractions to the side and just focusing on footy.”
The Roosters lost the plot when captain Anthony Minichiello was forced off the field with a hamstring tear at halftime, when they led 24-6.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson was extremely calm considering the collapse.
“It’s really disappointing after such a good start, such a controlled start,” Robinson said. “They started to play some offload footy at the back end of the first half which gave us a bit of a sign.
“They did that in the second half and opened us up and then we lost our mojo in D. We just didn’t combine well enough and talk well enough.
“We were all over the shop by halfway through that second half.”
CRONULLA 30 (J Gagan 2 S Feki W Graham J Robson tries M Gordon 5 goals) bt SYDNEY ROOSTERS 28 (M Aubusson 2 B Elliot S Kenny-Dowall M Pearce tries J Maloney 4 goals) at Allianz Stadium. Referee: Gavin Morris, Henry Perenara. Crowd: 10,732.
SHARKS V ROOSTERS MATCH CENTRE
See how we covered the game live below.
Originally published as NRL round 17: Cronulla Sharks pull off another miracle comeback to defeat Sydney Roosters
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