Rabbitohs move to bottom of the ladder as Sharks win 14-12
Serious questions have been raised over the Sharks premiership credentials after a narrow win over the Rabbitohs, which could see Wayne Bennett handed his first ever wooden spoon.
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They might have collected the two points, but Cronulla finished Saturday night’s clash against Souths at Polytec Stadium in Gosford with more questions about their premiership chances than answers.
Entering the game in ninth on the ladder, the Sharks moved to seventh - for the night at least - but did little to inspire any confidence in their hopes of contending in September.
In a game that never reached any real heights, the Sharks bumbled their way to a 14-12 win against a brave Souths side missing backs Latrell Mitchell, Campbell Graham, Cody Walker and Jayden Sullivan, along with forwards Brandon Smith, Cameron Murray and Keaon Koloamatangi.
Granted, Souths were as resilient as anyone could ask in defence, but Cronulla looked clueless at times in attack, leaving coach Craig Fitzgibbon’s side with plenty to do over the regular season’s final six weeks where they have four of their last five games against teams sitting below them on the ladder. They have the bye in round 25.
Fitzgibbon said he knew Souths would arrive in Gosford with plenty to play for and was happy his team knuckled down for a fight but admitted they struggled in attack.
“We’re under no illusions as to the fact they were going to turn up,” Fitzgibbon said.
“What we didn’t want was to be too loose and give them field position and let them get a sniff that we hadn’t turned up.
“I thought, out of the night our execution was miles off, but at least we did what the very thing that we needed to do was keep them out of the game by field position.
“I’d like to execute better as well. Like, I’m not going to shy away from the fact our attack was poor, our good ball attack was poor.”
The loss for Souths was their eighth in a row, the equal longest losing streak in the storied coaching career of master coach Wayne Bennett.
Another unwanted record for Bennett looms too.
Relegated to the bottom of the ladder following the loss and the Titans’ surprise win over the Warriors earlier on Saturday, the Rabbitohs are in line for the first wooden spoon in Bennett’s 38 seasons of NRL coaching.
Post match a surly Bennett refused to even discuss the wooden spoon when asked by reporters.
“I knew someone would ask that question and I’m not answering that,” Bennett said.
Bennett was however proud of his team’s effort.
“They couldn’t give much more than they gave. It was a very gutsy performance by us,” he said.
Cronulla scored first via a penalty on nine minutes and Souths matched them after 20. An arm wrestle ensued, with the Rabbitohs valiant in defence against a massive territory deficit before they were rewarded via a Tyrone Munro try with seconds to go in the half.
Such was Cronulla’s domination of field position, they had a 33-3 red zone advantage in the first period, only to trail 6-2 at the break.
It didn’t take long for the Sharks to bounce back in the second stanza though, scoring through Ronaldo Mulitalo just three minutes into proceedings and when Souths’ skipper Jack Wighton was sent to the sin bin by referee Belinda Sharpe over a contentious shoulder charge call it looked like the floodgates might open.
But again, Souths hung tough in defence, repelling wave after wave of inept Cronulla attack until Wighton returned.
Eventually the NRL’s form player Blayke Brailey crossed to score what proved to be the matchwinner, despite a last minute converted try to Souths’ Tevita Tatola.
Adding to Souths’ woes, Tatola dislocated his shoulder in the act of scoring.
RUDOLPH STUNG
Sharks’ powerhouse Toby Rudolph ended the match on the bench after being adjudged to have suffered a category one head injury following the clash that saw Wighton sent to the bin.
It appeared the pair had clashed heads, along with the shoulder contact from Wighton.
The illegal act led to Cronulla’s 18th man Hohepa Puru entering the field shortly after Rudolph’s departure.
RECORD WATCH
Rabbitohs’ winger Alex Johnston began the game with a career tally of 207 tries, just five behind the legendary Ken Irvine’s all-time leading mark of 212 that has been the benchmark for five decades.
Sadly, Johnston had few chances tonight, rarely getting the ball in any sort of attacking position and never looking like he would add to his career total.
MUNRO’S NIGHTMARE
Rabbitohs winger Tyrone Munro had a night to forget, spilling no less than four high balls, including one that soon after led to Cronulla’s first try.
Despite crossing for the opening four pointer of the game, Munro struggled massively under an aerial assault that at one stage in the first half saw him moved to the centres in a swap with Isaiah Tass.
Munro moved back to the wing in the second half but still struggled.
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