NRL 2021: Cronulla Sharks defeat New Zealand Warriors 20-12
Braden Hamlin-Uele has revealed the story behind the post-try celebration that sent social media into a spin — and what he’s got planned next.
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Braden Hamlin-Uele has urged players to keep celebrating tries in weird and wacky ways after he sent social media into a storm with his version of the Rock’s people’s elbow in Cronulla’s 20-12 win over the Warriors.
The stunning knockdown of teammate Jack Williams has been viewed nearly 60,000 times on Fox League’s Twitter account and looked more realistic than most of the stuff we see in the WWE.
The initiative is the brainchild of Sportsbet who are offering $5000 as part of their Try July campaign to raise money for the Men of League Foundation to support Mose Masoe.
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Celebrating tries used to be common practice in the NRL, but some people find it arrogant while coaches don’t want opponents to use it as motivation after Bryan Fletcher’s hand grenade sparked the greatest dynasty in State of Origin history.
“The NFL does it so why can’t we do it,” Hamlin-Uele said.
“It brings a bit of enjoyment to the fans and it’s not done out of malice. It’s just enjoying the wins and the little things on the field. You can’t find those too often in the game, so I say enjoy them while you can.
“I understand it’s a bit hard to celebrate when you’re coming from behind and chasing points, but if you can celebrate a try, it goes to a massive cause for one of our ex-comrades.
“Whether you played with him or against him, it’s just good to support him, especially because he’s doing it tough. It’s the least we can do.”
The people’s elbow was dubbed the most electrifying move in all of sports entertainment back in the Rock’s day, but it’ll now be the most talked about move in the NRL after people sat in disbelief thinking that Hamlin-Uele had actually decked his teammate.
The pair sold it so well that some have suggested they follow Daniel Vidot and make the move from the NRL to the WWE. If Sunday is anything to go by then Mr. McMahon could be on the phone soon.
“Apparently it looked real. Everyone was asking if I actually punched him,” he laughed.
“If we want to follow in Vidot’s footsteps then we’ll have to hit up a few higher powers and see what happens. I don’t follow it too much now because it’s a bit too unrealistic. I liked it when there was a bit of blood and everyone was getting on people’s bad sides and no one was safe. It’s too PG for me now.”
The Sharks prop grew up idolising the Undertaker, Goldberg and Rey Mysterio, and even had the ground announcer use the Rock’s theme music to celebrate his tries last season.
In good news for fans of both sports, Hamlin-Uele confirmed he and Williams had something up their sleeve should the latter get a try of his own in the next couple of weeks.
He joked that Williams would perform a moonsault – essentially a backflip – off the crossbar, but either way, we want to smell what the props are cooking.
“We had to play it off. I wasn’t meant to hit the deck that hard,” said Williams, who played the role of ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin to perfection.
“You’ll have to see if I can get a try.”
Coach Josh Hannay said “I’ve never seen it (at training),” .
“I didn’t see it at first because we were looking at the play that led to the try, and then I saw a glimpse of it. It’s for a good cause, so at least that money is going to a worthwhile cause.”
“Hopefully he’s putting as much focus into his footy as he did that try celebration.”
HUB LIFE
It appears 12 teams will head to south-east Queensland as the NRL looks to get players out of NSW following another day of alarming cases in the state.
It’s yet another setback for a Warriors team that has been away from home for more than 12 months in a selfless act that has kept the competition alive.
They had their own scare before kick-off after caterers were forced to leave the stadium due to a close contact. It meant Warriors players and staff had to stay on the team bus in a blow to their pre-game routine.
They actually started the game well and opened the scoring through Reece Walsh, but they lacked spark in attack with Roger Tuivasa-Sheck kept quiet on the wing until he injected himself into the contest with a try midway through the second half.
“I believe someone who set up the catering for us came into close contact with someone with Covid, so all the food got tossed out and the room had to be cleaned,” Nathan Brown said, adding he was furious with some refereeing interpretations that included a decision to not send Sione Katoa to the sin bin for a high shot that left Bayley Sironen with a suspected broken nose.
TRICKY OR TREAT
It remains unclear who will partner Nicho Hynes in the halves next year, but Braydon Trindall did his chances no harm with a terrific audition to help the Sharks secure two crucial competition points.
On his 22nd birthday, Trindall was the one handing out presents when he set Connor Tracey up for Cronulla’s first try of the afternoon. For good measure, he then sliced through for the first try of his NRL career.
Trindall was only moved to the halves after Tracey shifted to the centres, and he should be one of the favourites to wear the No.7 jersey in 2022 ahead of Matt Moylan who missed Sunday’s clash through injury.
The man he could replace, Shaun Johnson, overcame a leg injury picked up at training and picked apart the team he’ll rejoin next season with a number of forced line dropouts.
“He (Johnson) is probably less the ‘big play’ guy these days but he’s more that veteran half,” Hannay said.
“I think he’s understanding as he gets older the tempo of rugby league and when to pull the trigger. I thought Braydon was a good foil for him.”
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