A 12-point, half-time edge was not enough to propel the Dragons past the Sharks in their local derby clash on Thursday night with Shane Flanagan’s men falling 30-18.
It was a busy week in Wollongong with a pair of special jersey presentations – one for debutant Nick Tsougranis and one for 150-gamer Moses Suli.
Arncliffe product and Dragons Academy graduate Tsougranis became St George Illawarra Dragons #289 upon taking the field capping off a superb rise for the soon-to-be 21-year-old.
Match: Sharks v Dragons
Round 15 -
home Team
Sharks
5th Position
away Team
Dragons
10th Position
Venue: Sharks Stadium, Sydney
The hosts appeared to have gotten on the board after the ball found Mawene Hiroti off a mid-air battle only for video officials to rule that Kyle Flanagan had been taken out illegally in the contest.
Bolstered by a yardage penalty, the Sharks did manage points their next set after Blayke Brailey sliced through the middle out of dummy-half and found a supporting Braydon Trindall to score to the left of the sticks.
The Red V found a response shortly thanks to a stupendous, individual effort courtesy of Damien Cook with the fleetfooted No.9 stepping his way past a collection of Shark defenders off an Emre Guler offload.
Kyle Flanagan stepped up to nail the conversion in the absence of Valentine Holmes and lock things up at six-apiece.
Hame Sele checked into the game at the 25-minute mark for his first taste of NRL for the year with Lyhkan King-Togia scoring just a few plays later to earn his side the lead.
The 20-year-old produced another determined, individual effort shrugging away from a multitude of defenders and keeping his ball-carrying arm off the ground to stretch out and get it to the chalk.
The Dragons manufactured a spirited defensive stand soon after with Clint Gutherson coming away with a dropped ball and racing downfield before being dragged down.
Jesse Ramien held the Dragons skipper down for too long however prompting referee Grant Atkins to send the Cronulla centre to the sin bin.
The Red V nabbed their third try of the night just several plays later with Flanagan showcasing some shrewd ball-playing to send a charging Jack de Belin over to score to make it 18-6.
Cronulla claimed a try on the stroke of half-time, but video officials concurred with the on-field call of Damien Cook winning the race to a Trindall grubber to quash any chances of a try.
Sione Katoa claimed a try for Cronulla early in the second stanza but was denied courtesy of a phenomenal cover effort from King-Togia and Luciano Leilua.
They were able to find one moments later however off the back of a high tackle penalty with Briton Nikora crashing over off Trindall to cut the deficit back to a half-dozen.
The hosts were able to tie things up at 18-apiece soon after with Trindall scoring off his own kick which had been spilt mid-air.
The home side’s attacking onslaught continued off an attacking scrum they were gifted thanks to another Dragons kick defusal mistake with Katoa speeding his way over to make it 22-18.
The Dragons lodged a successful Captain’s Challenge shortly after to wrestle possession back with the Sharks on the attack.
The visitors lost their Captain’s Challenge with less than 10 minutes on the clock in a desperate attempt to overturn a late tackle call with Nicho Hynes adding a penalty goal off the back of it to make it 24-18.
Katoa sealed it for the hosts late off a King-Togia chip-and-chase which bounced fortuitously into his arms and cleared a path to the try-line for the winger.
