The first of many NRLW local derbies went the way of the Sharks who outlasted the Dragons 16-8 in a seesawing affair at PointsBet Stadium on Thursday night.
The Red V were dealt a blow prior to kick-off with starting lock Sophie Clancy ruled out after suffering an ankle issue during the warmup.
Her withdrawal saw Jamilee Bright promoted into the run-on side with Macie Carlile coming onto the interchange.
The Dragons’ injury woes continued mid-way through the second half with Tara McGrath-West assisted from the field with a sternum issue.
Match: Sharks v Dragons
Round 8 -
home Team
Sharks
7th Position
away Team
Dragons
6th Position
Venue: PointsBet Stadium, Sydney
Down troops, Bright pumped out a 70-minute, 38-tackle effort in the back row but it proved in vain with Jamie Soward’s squad falling just short of their fourth win of the season.
An early error put the hosts on the attack, but their raid lasted just the one play with Cortez Te Pou and Shenai Lendill combining to throw Sharks skipper Tiana Penitani into touch off the scrum.
Margot Vella showed off her defensive chops over on the other side of the field soon after dragging her opposite into touch with a textbook effort around the bootlaces.
A desperate piece of Dragons scramble forced a forward pass and denied Penitani the opening points of the contest 10 minutes in.
Sharks hooker Brooke Anderson was placed on report for a hair pull with Renee Targett going close to burrowing her way over off the back of it but being prevented by an offside Shark.
The hosts snared their first through Anderson who crashed through off a Quincy Dodd short ball to the right of the sticks with Tayla Preston adding the extras to improve the advantage to six 20 minutes in.
Anderson went within inches of a second moments later but was denied by a sensational Ella Koster effort.
An error gifted the Dragons strong field position with Vella scurrying over off a Sarah Riordan flick but being refused with the officials whistling a forward pass.
Tyla Nathan-Wong scored the Dragons’ first just shy of the break pouring through to ground her own kick which had been spilt in-goal thanks to a terrier-like effort courtesy of Vella.
Raecene McGregor’s conversion was waved away with the score remaining at 6-4 heading into the sheds.
Te Pou put the Dragons ahead for the first time 51 minutes in thanks to a fifth-tackle shift and nifty draw-and-pass courtesy of her centre Lendill that sent her diving over in the right corner.
The Sharks answered through Penitani who was the beneficiary of a fifth-tackle cut-out that cannoned off the boot of winger Cassie Staples and into her waiting arms.
Preston’s conversion rebounded off the upright and fell short as the hosts’ edge remained at just two.
Staples crossed late for the hosts to put them ahead 16-8 and propel them towards victory in front of their home crowd.
