NRL Round 2: Cronulla Sharks win 25-6 over Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Results, Highlights

The Sharks ran riot in the second half against a competitive Bulldogs outfit, but the game wasn’t without controversy, with one player lucky not to be sent-off.

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 15: Sione Katoa of the Sharks celebrates after scoring a try during the round two NRL match between Cronulla Sharks and Canterbury Bulldogs at PointsBet Stadium on March 15, 2024, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Someone at Shark Park must have swapped the Tic Tacs for angry pills because both Cronulla and Canterbury players rocked up looking for a fight on Friday, with scuffles breaking out every few minutes on a night Briton Nikora was lucky not to be sent off for a vicious shot on Viliame Kikau.

The Sharks survived the bruising encounter with a gritty 25-6 win, but the hosts could be without Nikora for a few weeks after the rep forward whacked Kikau high with a driving shoulder well after he’d passed the ball.

“I didn’t see it,” Craig Fitzgibbon joked.

“I saw it happen live, and when the game stopped, I said that it will be stopped for a shoulder charge by Brit.”

The on field officials originally missed the high contact, but the Bunker forced a halt in play with Nikora placed on report and sent to the sin bin, with the Dogs taking advantage of the extra man to open the scoring through Blake Wilson.

“I haven’t had too many looks at it but it didn’t look great,” Cameron Ciraldo said.

“He’s not that sort of player so I don’t think he would have meant it. But it wasn’t a great look.”

Dale Finucane played his 250th game. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

No one was more fired up than Reed Mahoney who was involved in so many push and shoves that the referee had to warn both captains to cut out “the shenanigans”, with the Sharks eventually coming up with a couple of incredible tries to their wingers to seal a special win for Dale Finucane in game 250.

“I don’t think there was niggle,” Ciraldo said.

“I thought it was a clean game between two good teams. I just thought our blokes decided to stand up for themselves.

“Instead of blokes coming and pushing them in the back like I’ve been seeing lately, today they showed that connection that they’ve been building and they said ‘we’re not going to allow ourselves to be bullied’. And they didn’t.

KIK AND RUN

There were calls all week for Matt Burton to shift to centre so he could run the ball more, but the man with the biggest boot in the game showed he can still have a positive impact at five-eighth with a nice run that should’ve led to a try.

Burton took on the line midway through the first half and offloaded to a rampaging Kikau who crashed over, only for referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski to rule no try because he blocked Braydon Trindall who realistically had no chance of stopping the towering Fijian.

Kikau was a lot more involved after a quiet game against the Eels, while Burton (10 runs for 114 metres) split the defence early in the second half but had no support.

Their attack still needs a lot of work with star signing Stephen Crichton not getting enough touches, but Wilson looks to be one to watch with the winger going within a whisker of scoring a second only to put a foot in touch.

“I thought ‘Burto’ had one of his best games,” Ciraldo said.

“His mindset around running the ball was really good, and I think Kikau had his best game in a Bulldogs jersey.”

The Bulldogs had a promising start. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

HORROR START

The Bulldogs would have spoken all week about winning the middle third of the field after their forwards were embarrassed by the Sharks last year, but the evening couldn’t have started any worse with Poasa Faamausili knocked out in the first run.

The prop forward was bringing the ball back from the kick-off when he collided heads with Cam McInnes and was immediately ruled out of the contest.

The visitors did well to defend their line and kept one of the best attacking sides in the NRL to one try in 55 minutes before Sione Katoa eventually put the hosts up 12-6 when he touched down in the corner.

Originally published as NRL Round 2: Cronulla Sharks win 25-6 over Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | Results, Highlights