By Melissa Woods
Cronulla made a statement about their title credentials with a rousing 25-18 victory over Melbourne that cemented their spot at the top of the NRL ladder.
Emerging from the top-of-the-table battle at AAMI Park on Saturday night with two points, the Sharks silenced criticism that they didn’t deserve their lofty position due to a favourable draw.
The clash with Melbourne was their first against a top-four outfit this season but Cronulla proved they are the real deal, earning the win without their chief playmaker Nicho Hynes (calf), who was a late withdrawal.
The teams were locked at 18-18 until a 73rd-minute field goal by Daniel Atkinson. The Sharks sealed the result a minute later with a try by Siosifa Talakai.
Ronaldo Mulitalo collected Cameron Munster’s restart and, after a 40-metre break, offloaded to a charging Talakai.
It ended a run of five straight losses to Melbourne, and also stopped the Storm levelling a record of 15 successive home victories.
Siosifa Talakai celebrates his try against the Storm.Credit: Getty
A turning point came four minutes before half-time when Storm skipper Harry Grant was controversially sin-binned and the Sharks scored in the next play.
As Grant ran past Atkinson, he made light contact with the Sharks five-eighth’s leg at the end of his kicking action.
The Storm hooker looked gobsmacked when referee Grant Atkins sent him for 10 minutes saying: “There’s a duty of care, there’s a dangerous action”.
In the next minute, the Sharks were in for their second try with prop Oregon Kaufusi charging over right where Grant would have defended, with Atkinson adding the extras for a 12-12 scoreline at half-time.
Jesse Ramien continued to press for a NSW State of Origin call-up when the centre used his power to steamroll over and put his team ahead.
Covering for injured Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes, Tyran Wishart tied the match up again when he ran on to a Munster ball in the 68th minute.
With just five NRL matches to his name, including one game with Melbourne, 23-year-old Atkinson showed his class to edge his team ahead with the field goal before the Sharks wrapped up a memorable win.
AAP
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