Sunday NRL: Replay live coverage

THE Lewis-less Sharks beat the Raiders, the Knights dominated the Dogs, while Gordon, Fensom, McCrone and T-Rex were injured.

WELCOME to our live coverage of today's NRL double header. Check out our rolling coverage in this story, plus follow the games live at our match centres, complete with game tracker, live stats and live SuperCoach.

Sharks v Raiders (from 2pm AEST)

Knights v Bulldogs (from 3pm AEST)

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4.56pm - Mason eyes NSW spot after 44-8 carve up of Dogs

A NSW bench spot beckons Willie Mason following a stunning second half surge in Newcastle’s 44-8 carve up of the Bulldogs.   

Mason burst to life after a dangerous tackle on James McManus by Krisnan Inu, proceeding on a rampage of bullocking runs, booming hits, brawls and sledging.

Big Willie's form prompted Matty Johns to say: "Willie Mason is playing himself into a NSW bench spot".

The score finished 44-8, with Joseph Leilua (63rd minute), Kurt Gidley (70th minute) and Kevin Naiqama (76th minute) crossing late.

NEWCASTLE 44 (K Naiqama 2 D Boyd K Gidley J Leilua J McManus R Rochow tries K Gidley 6 T Roberts 2 goals) bt BULLDOGS 8 (F Pritchard try T Hodkinson 2 goals) at Hunter Stadium. Referee: Gavin Morris, Jason Robinson. Crowd: 18,982.

Game details and stats

Willie fires up

Willie Mason

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4.26pm - Knights surge to 24-8 lead

NEWCASTLE have taken a commanding lead against the Bulldogs through second half tries to James McManus (46th minute) and Darius Boyd (51st minute).

Willie Mason and James Graham almost came to blows.

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3.57pm - Knights lead 12-8 at halftime

NEWCASTLE dominated much of the first half against the Bulldogs but only had a four-point lead to show for it at halftime at Hunter Stadium.

Knights skipper Kurt Gidley put backrower Robbie Rockow over after just seven minutes for a 6-0 lead and it was 12-0 when Jarrod Mullen’s perfectly weighted cross kick found an unmarked Kevin Naiqama midway through the half.

The Dogs struggled to contain the Knights up the middle and the home side could easily have found themselves further ahead.

But late in the half, the Bulldogs finally got themselves into the game with Frank Pritchard storming over off a James Graham pass seven minutes from halftime to narrow the gap to 12-6.

Trent Hodkinson landed a penalty goal in the shadows of halftime to make it 12-8 in favour of the Knights. 

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Sharks vs Canberra

3.53pm - Sharks score 30-20 win

TODD Carney, Blake Ferguson and Andrew Fifita put in great NSW Origin auditions in Cronulla's 30-20 win over the Raiders, but both sides were hit hard by injury.

Carney was named man of the match, Ferguson scored a try and was constantly dangerous, while a barnstorming Fifita scored a crucial try in the 70th minute.

The Raiders had earlier fought back from 18-6 down at half time, posting tries after the break to Ferguson (45th minute), Jack Wighton (62nd minute) and Anthony Milford (65th minute), who scored a double.

Michael Gordon (knee), Josh McCrone (hip, ribs) and Shaun Fensom (eye) were injured in the clash.

CRONULLA 30 (J Bukuya I De Gois A Fifita B Ross J Wright tries M Gordon 3 T Carney 2 goals) bt CANBERRA 20 (A Milford 2 B Ferguson J Wighton tries B Ferguson 2 goals) at Sharks Stadium. Referee: Chris James, Adam Devcich. Crowd: 12,130.

Game details and stats

Blue bolters star

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Tony Williams

3.30pm - Knights off to quick start, T-Rex injured

A SLICK Newcastle side lead the Bulldogs 12-nil following a blistering start at Hunter Stadium.

Robbie Rochow (6th minute) and Kevin Naiqama (17th minute), who was a late replacement for Akuila Uate (ankle), both have tries.

Tony Williams (ankle and knee) has left the field. He is one of four players injured so far today. See below for details.

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3.16pm - Sharks lead 24-10, but Gordon injured

CRONULLA have surged to a commanding 24-10 lead against the Raiders after Jayson Bukuya streaked away in the 49th minute.

The Raiders had earlier fought back to 18-10, with Blake Ferguson crossing in the 45th minute from an Anthony Milford grubber.

But in a huge blow for Cronulla and SuperCoaches, Michael Gordon has left the field with a knee injury. Josh McCrone (hip, ribs) and Shaun Fensom (eye) are on the pine for the Raiders. 

Tagataese on McCrone

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2.55pm - Sharks lead 18-6 at break, Fensom injured

CRONULLA have taken an 18-6 lead into half time against the Raiders at Sharks Stadium.

Canberra had fought back to 12-6 midway through the half courtesy of a try to Anthony Milford, but the Sharks kicked 12 points clear in the 33rd minute through Isaac Do Gois, who benefited from great lead-up play by Todd Carney and Ben Pomeroy.

The Raiders lost Josh McCrone (hip, ribs) and Shaun Fensom (eye).

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2.51pm - Bulldogs unchanged for Knights clash

CANTERBURY are 1-17 for today's clash with the Knights, with Martin Taupau and Tim Browne dropping off an extended bench.

See final Knights team below.

Bulldogs: Ben Barba, Mitch Brown, Josh Morris, Krisnan Inu, Sam Perrett, Josh Reynolds, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis, Sam Kasiano, Tony Williams, Frank Pritchard, Greg Eastwood. Interchange: Dene Halatau, Josh Jackson, James Graham, Dale Finucane, Martin Taupau, Tim Browne

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2.36pm - Young gun Milford hits back for Raiders

ANTHONY Milford scored a scintillating first ever NRL try to bring the Raiders back to 12-6 against the Sharks.

Milford was put through a hole by a great Shaun Fensom offload, before putting a huge step on fullback Michael Gordon in a 50 metre dash to the line.

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Tagataese on McCrone

2.23pm - Sharks take early lead, McCrone injured

CRONULLA have surged to an early 12-nil lead against the Raiders courtesy of tries to Jonathan Wright (8th minute) and Ben Ross (17th minute).

Josh McCrone left the field for the Raiders following a crunching hit and appears to have a hip or rib problem.

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Akuila Uate

2.09pm - Uate out, Naiqama in

WINGER Akuila Uate has succumbed to an ankle injury for the Knights and is replaced by Kevin Naiqama in the only change.

Bulldogs side to come soon.

Knights: Darius Boyd, James McManus, Dane Gagai, Joey Leilua, Kevin Naiqama, Jarrod Mullen, Tyrone Roberts, Kade Snowden, Kurt Gidley (c), Willie Mason, Robbie Rochow, Alex McKinnon, David Fa’alogo. Interchange: Travis Waddell, Neville Costigan, Adam Cuthbertson, Korbin Sims

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1.32pm - Lewis out, Peachey to debut

LUKE Lewis (shoulder) is out for the Sharks, with Jayson Bukuya to start and Tyrone Peachey, the nephew of Cronulla great David Peachey, to debut off the bench.

Sam Tagataese has been promoted to start at prop, with Andrew Fifita relegated to the bench.

Sharks: Michael Gordon, Sosaia Feki, Ben Pomeroy, Jonathan Wright, Beau Ryan, Todd Carney, Jeff Robson, Sam Tagataese, John Morris, Ben Ross, Jayson Bukuya, Wade Graham, Chris Heighington. Interchange: Andrew Fifita, Isaac De Gois, Anthony Tupou, Tyrone Peachey

Tyrone Peachey

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1.17pm - Raiders unchanged

CANBERRA are 1-17 for this afternoon's clash against the Sharks, with 18th man Shaun Berrigan dropping out of the squad.

The Sharks are yet to announce their final team, although Luke Lewis (shoulder) is expected to be replaced by Tyrone Peachey.

Raiders: Reece Robinson, Sandor Earl, Jack Wighton, Blake Ferguson, Edrick Lee, Terry Campese (c), Josh McCrone, David Shillington, Matt McIlwrick, Brett White, Joel Edwards, Josh Papalii, Shaun Fensom. Interchange: Anthony Milford, Joe Picker, Dane Tilse, Paul Vaughan, Shaun Berrigan

12.25pm - Tale of the tape

THE 10th placed Sharks are set to be without their two most inspirational forwards at Sharks Stadium today, with Paul Gallen (knee) ruled out and Luke Lewis (shoulder) in serious doubt.

Meanwhile, Canberra have won four of their last five and are backing up from a Blake Ferguson-led 44-14 drubbing of Newcastle.

In the other match, the Knights will be out to halt a horrible run of inconsistency. Newcastle have only won three games on the trot once during Wayne Bennett's reign, and are backing up from successive losses.

They face an in form Canterbury side, who have won three on the trot, aided by the round eight returns of big guns James Graham and Sam Kasiano.