NRL 2022: Cronulla Sharks defeat Canterbury Bulldogs to stay in race for home final
The Sharks shutout the Bulldogs to stay in the race for a top-two finish and a crucial home final in a perfect celebration for two club favourites.
NRL
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A scrappy Sharks have continued their push for a top-two spot and a home final after shutting out the Bulldogs on Saturday on an emotional night for two club favourites.
It was the Sharks’ 10th win from their past 11 matches, but Cronulla’s 16-0 win provided some concerns for coach Craig Fitzgibbon heading towards finals in two weeks, with completions hovering between 50-60 per cent.
In contrast, Canterbury completed between 70-80 per cent but could not execute at all, during an error-riddled match, which never reached great heights. “It’s definitely one for the purists,” Mick Ennis said on Fox League.
It was not until the 65th minute that Ronaldo Mulitalo’s second try from a Nicho Hynes chip put the game away. Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon, however, was not overly concerned.
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“Always lessons, just pleased to win,” Fitzgibbon said. “That was an emotional week on a lot of levels. We’re happy, we’re really happy with that. Defence was strong, really strong.
“It was important for the club we got it done and we did.”
The win could be a final farewell to PointsBet Stadium for retiring 300-gamer Aiden Tolman and 2016 grand final hero Andrew Fifita, if the Sharks cannot snare second spot from the North Queensland Cowboys in the last round.
The Sharks formed a guard of honour before kick-off for Fifita and Tolman, entering the game to the cheers of a capacity 11,500 in attendance which greeted both players, but a special reception was reserved for the premiership-winning hero in the 30th minute followed by another significant tribute in the 68th minute.
The man who has played 209 of his 248 NRL matches as a Shark received a standing round of applause from the Sharks’ faithful – complete with cries of “Andrew, Andrew, Andrew” – with 12 minutes to go marking that same point he barged over underneath the sticks that eventually “turned off the porch light” and gave Cronulla the premiership success they had long desired.
It was just a pity the big man was on the bench when the match reached that mark.
“It was just hard to get any real rhythm in the game because of the errors,” Sharks skipper Wade Graham said. “Take away the footy (it) was a big occasion. We’ve had a lot of big occasions this year for the club like debuts, and Dykesy (Kade Dykes), a third generation player coming through the club, but there was none bigger than tonight for a club legend and legend of the game.”
While Tolman announced this week he is hanging up the boots for good, Fifita is open to offers.
Cronulla’s defence inside their red zone did stand the test keeping Canterbury scoreless continuing a formidable record as the NRL’s best defensive side inside their own 20 metres, taking 16 tackles on average to concede a try.
“We gave them plenty of opportunities to get points,” Fitzgibbon said with a smile.
Bulldogs coach Mick Potter concurred.
“I thought they were very good tonight that they stifled us, we didn’t dig into the line enough as much as we should have, consequently misreading the defence” Potter said.
“We could have been in it and we need to execute a little bit better, generate quicker play the ball more often to create more opportunity.”
The Sharks play Newcastle away next week to keep top-two hopes alive and a home final at Shark Park.
SHARKS WORRIES
The Sharks won but it was far from the type of performance to keep pace with the form shown by Parramatta and a surging Roosters, both below them on the table.
“Last Saturday night I was at the SCG watching a Roosters’ attacking juggernaut just roll through the Tigers,” Mick Ennis commented on Fox League.
“We’re only two weeks out from finals, two weeks out, and Cronulla’s attack tonight has been anywhere but where the Roosters were last week.”
The Sharks were far from the side that pummelled Wests Tigers and Manly in the past two weeks by a combined 58 points.
Matt Moylan – in his second match back from a quad injury – was the player to provide the spark Cronulla lacked for much of the night, setting up both first-half tries with two balls at the line to give the Sharks a 10-0 lead at the main break, plus breaking the line, tackles and one-on-one steals.
INJURED STARS NEARING RETURN
Dale Finucane missed the win with a rib cartilage issue, adding to the club’s injury concerns, but with finals approaching, there is more good news than bad on that front.
Finucane is expected to be right next week, against Newcastle, however Fitzgibboncast some doubt over Kade Dykes’ (calf) availability.
First choice No.1 Will Kennedy is tracking well for a week one finals’ return from his ankle injury, especially given the attack of Saturday night. Toby Rudolph is also hoping to be back for week one or two of finals after a medial ligament injury.
ANOTHER IRO
Kayal Iro, the son of former New Zealand rugby league representative Kevin Iro, was a late call-up during Friday’s captain’s run for an NRL debut on Saturday night.
The 22-year-old outside back replaced the injured Matt Ikauvalu on the left win in jumper no. 21 having already represented the Cook Islands at International level. The youngster showed nerves with a few errors including one close to the line with an opportunity begging. But he had many friends on his team in that department.
His father and uncle Tony played for multiple clubs in Australia and the UK with dad Kevin representing New Zealand 34 times between 1987 and 1998, playing 300 matches in England including two Super League titles with St Helens in 1999 and 2000.
SHARK PARK JOY
Despite the disparity of more than 30,000 between the new soon-to-be-opened Allianz Stadium and PointsBet Stadium, statistics support why Shark Park is so important to Cronulla, if they can snag a second spot.
The Sharks have now won nine of 10 matches at Shark Park this year, losing to the Roosters in round 12, which is their best record since the 2016 premiership year of 2016, winning 91.7% during that famous year. A win in that first week of finals would give a top four team a week off adding to the importance.
To protect the integrity of the finals system it was confirmed by Andrew Abdo this week that Cronulla would get the opportunity to play their first final at PointsBet Stadium in 14 years after public lobbying by club chief executive Dino Mezzatesta.
Key to avoiding another rainbow jersey controversy
-David Riccio
Andrew Fifita believes Manly could have avoided the rainbow jersey fiasco had the club appointed a cultural officer with direct ties to the dressing room.
The premiership-winning Sharks prop said he hoped to meet with NRL CEO Andrew Abdo to discuss why it’s important for every club to appoint a go-between the players inner-sanctum and club management.
Speaking before his final appearance at PointsBet Stadium for the Sharks on Saturday, Fifita revealed it’s his ambition to work as a cultural officer at Cronulla.
He pointed to the rise in Polynesian heritage players while using his own experiences to explain why every club needs to understand and embrace the game’s diversity.
“We saw what happened with Manly,” Fifita said.
“From everything I’ve read, seen and spoken to some of the boys over there, that came down to a breakdown in both player and club understanding of what needed to happen, so that everyone was on the same page.
“Had a cultural officer been part of that dressing room, it would’ve enabled a far greater level of communication with the club and players.
“This isn’t about picking on Manly. Every club is beginning to understand the diversity that now exists at every club.
“It’s not only the more traditional pacific island and Polynesian boys and girls, but in western Sydney there’s a lot of Sudanese players coming through.’’
Fifita said he realised there was a need to discuss cultural diversity when Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon arrived at the club earlier this year.
“Most recently at Cronulla, Fitzy has wanted to learn a lot more about the many cultures, to raise his and everyone at the club’s cultural awareness,’’ Fifita said.
“We had a Tonga and Indigenous Day, where the players and staff were involved in sharing their backgrounds and what their culture represents. It was outstanding.
“Going forward, every club should have one full-time cultural officer.
“There’s a lot of young islanders in the lower grades that have come over from New Zealand and they’re thrust into an environment that isn’t like home.
“As a senior player, these players are turning to me for guidance.
“Every dressing room wants to be on the same page. But to do that, understanding the different cultures within that dressing room is paramount.
“I know that Tongan culture has traditions that do impact training days, with certain commitments, particularly during which a family member has passed.
“Some teammates may not understand why one of their star players is not at training for up to five days because of that cultural commitment to their family.”
Fifita said that he hoped to meet with Abdo, who has been clear in his mission to celebrate and accept cultural diversity within the NRL.
“If Andrew was willing to chat, that would be great,” Fifita said.
“The NRL do some great work already and have people employed within the NRL who focus on Pasifika and Indigenous welfare.
“Everyone talks about wanting a winning culture. Well a winning culture includes a dressing room that understands the many cultures that are within it.’’
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