The Illawarra Steelers Tarsha Gale Under-18s team were able to record a thrilling 30-26 win over the Cronulla Sharks at Southern Cross Group Stadium on the weekend.
The Steelers scored first through winger Rikeya Horne, who scored a runaway 70-metre try under the posts to go ahead early 6-0.
While the Sharks replied very quickly, Emily Fletcher scored a crucial try to help side to a 10-6 lead at the first interval.
Steelers were quick out of the blocks in the second quarter with Lilly Rose-Bennett helping extend the Steelers' lead to 16-6.
Two second quarter tries from the Sharks however meant the score was level at 16-all come half-time.
The close nature of the game didn't change in the second half though tries to Tatum Etherden and captain Keeley Davis as well as Horne's second try meant the Steelers would produce a four-point win.
Coach Cameron Thurgate said in his post-game speech: "I am proud of the way that we performed, not only today, but all week."
Eventual Man of the Match Davis was happy with the win.
"It was really good to put this effort in and get rewards out of it," she said.
"We stuck to our game plan and I’m really proud of everyone's efforts."
Illawarra Steelers 30 (Rikeya Horne 2, Emily Fletcher, Keeley Davis, Lilly-Rose Bennett, Tatum Etherden tries; Keeley Davis 2, Abby Holmes goals) defeated Cronulla Sharks 26 (Tayla Preston 2, Kersal Johnson, Akira Kelly, Sophie Buller tries; Tayla Preston 3 goals)
The Steelers' Harold Matthews side unfortunately went down to competition heavyweights the Cronulla Sharks 24-16 in the following fixture at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
While the Steelers produced an early 10-0 lead, it was short-lived as the Sharks produced four tries to lead 20-10 at half-time.
The Sharks continued where they left off in the first half by scoring again in the 43rd minute to extend their lead to a handy 24-10.
While Steelers winger Hayden Sutton scored 10 minutes later to give his side some hope, the Sharks proved too strong and held on to their eight-point advantage.
Steelers prop Ollie Parrish offered his thoughts on the game.
"I thought we started well in the first 15 minutes and we obviously thought we would go on and win the game, but we didn’t. We're pretty disappointed with our performance in the second half," Parrish said.
Coach Ben Linde echoed Parrish's sentiments.
"We had plenty of chances, but we just didn’t take our opportunities," Linde said.
"Cronulla are a good footy team. Even though we were up 10-0, I said to my assistant coach that they were doing the little things better than us.
"At the end of the day, we copped what we deserved because we weren’t committed to the processes we put in place."
Meanwhile the South Sydney Rabbitohs proved too good for St George Dragons' Harold Matthews outfit considering their 32-8 win at Redfern Oval.
Rabbitohs winger Zach Kambos and five-eighth Jacob Tautaiolefua set the tone early with tries in the first five minutes.
While back-rower Sione Taufui's try for the Dragons cut the deficit back to six points, the Rabbitohs pushed on with tries to Kambos and fullback Chaise Spyroulias.
Dragons fullback Jamie Lawler's try just before half-time was St George's last scoring play of the day.
Second half tries to Spyroulias and Tautaiolefua helped solidify the Rabbitohs' 24-point win.
Cronulla Sharks 24 (Eliah Veikoso 2, Douglas Levi, Moses Lolohea, Zachary Issa tries; Thomas Demeio 2 goals) defeated Illawarra Steelers 16 (Hayden Sutton 2, Max Feagai tries; Aaron Schoupp 2 goals)
South Sydney Rabbitohs 32 (Zach Kambos 2, Jacob Tautaiolefua 2, Chase Spyroulias 2 tries; Peter Mamouzelos 4 goals) defeated St George Dragons 8 (Sione Taufui, Jamie Lawler tries)
The Sharks continued their winning ways at Southern Cross Group Stadium when their SG Ball side defeated the Steelers 38-16.
The Steelers were never in the game, with Cronulla scoring four first half tries to lead 20-6 at the break.
The Sharks continued their onslaught by producing three second half tries to seal their 22-point win.
Assistant coach Trent Waterhouse was disappointed with the SG Ball Steelers' efforts.
"We were a bit disappointing today. We didn’t do our chances any good from the get-go. We were off with our defence and we didn’t have enough aggression," Waterhouse said.
"When you do that against good teams, they burn you, and that’s exactly what happened.
"We told the boys not to worry what referees do, we had our fair share of penalties too, so we can’t use that as an excuse," Waterhouse added.
"There’s plenty to improve on. I thought our defence was disappointing, we weren’t where we normally are with our aggression and we were bouncing off a lot of tackles. That's not our go."
The St George Dragons' SG Ball team had a bye in Round 5.
Cronulla Sharks 38 (Jaeman Salmon, Tom Caughlan, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Franklin Pele, Dylan Smith, Angus Ernst, Bronson Xerri tries; Luke Metcalf 5 goals) defeated Illawarra Steelers 16 (Samuel McCann, Zaan Weatherall, Matt Delbanco tries; Zaan Weatherall 2 goals)
