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Cronulla won the contest but lost star front-rower Addin Fonua-Blake twice in a tense and gritty 20-18 triumph over Newcastle on Friday night.
While Nicho Hynes’ desperate defence and sharpshooting from the tee proved the difference when the Knights outscored the Sharks by four tries to three, Fonua-Blake’s battles with what coach Craig Fitzgibbon described as a “low-grade pectoral strain” were cause for concern at Shark Park.
Fonua-Blake – Cronulla’s highest-paid forward and a recent NSW Origin series winner – came from the field after just 23 minutes at Shark Park, disappearing up the tunnel for treatment on a pectoral injury.
He returned to the Sharks bench and to the fray at the 66th minute, but he cut his second stint short nine minutes later when he left the field clutching at his chest, though Fitzgibbon played down suggestions of any long-term lay-off.
“I was a bit worried about putting him back out there, and the medics told me he’s going to be all right,” the Sharks coach said.
“It’s a low-grade pec strain, but obviously you don’t want to make it a high-grade pec strain, but [Fonua-Blake] said, ‘No, I’m good to go’.”
Asked about resting Fonua-Blake for next Sunday’s clash with Manly, Fitzgibbon said: “I won’t take a risk with a player of his magnitude. But he usually tells you where he’s at.”
Newcastle threatened to run the home side down despite defending their line for much of the second half, and they set up a grandstand finish when Greg Marzhew scored his second try to finish a play featuring several kicks and slips by Cronulla defenders trying to smother the 78th-minute play.
Kalyn Ponga’s sideline conversion was the only goal he slotted from four attempts but the Sharks managed to close out the contest in a desperate final 90 seconds.
A 35th-minute penalty goal from Hynes, and his perfect three shots at goal, ended up being all that separated the two sides in a win that shored up Cronulla’s top-four spot.
A desperate try-saving tackle from the much-maligned million-dollar half also proved critical as Newcastle came storming home.
When Knights back-rower Francis Manuleleua streaked away from a bomb Cronulla refused to make a play at in the 70th minute, only Hynes’ desperate sprinting, try-saving effort and eventual cover arriving from Sione Katoa denied Newcastle’s late salvo, forcing a knock-on from Manuleleua as he slid around the in-goal.
“He doesn’t get enough credit Nicho, but the last few weeks, he’s been playing that tough and he competes so hard as well,” captain Cameron McInnes said.
“So for him to get there doesn’t shock me. But for him to have that big moment, he deserves that. And Sione as well, coming from the other side of the field – it just shows how much it means to the boys.”
Until that point, the second stanza had been all Cronulla. But they only had one Ronaldo Mulitalo try to show for their dominance, which Braydon Trindall put on a platter with a lovely looping long ball.
The lack of points after the break was in direct contrast to a free-flowing opening 40, when Hynes’ goal-kicking was all that separated the two sides.
Ponga sped straight past KL Iro to open the scoring, before Will Kennedy answered soon enough, though, when a bomb fell his way. Newcastle’s on-field claims of a disruptor penalty against Mulitalo on Dom Young were reiterated by coach Justin Holbrook after fulltime, but dismissed by the Bunker in the moment.
Marzhew was then on the end of a picture-perfect tip-on from Bradman Best, but the tit-for-tat rolled on when Sione Katoa strolled through a hefty gap left by Fletcher Sharpe on his own line, an effort Dylan Lucas matched right on half-time.
While Fitzgibbon enjoyed Cronulla’s two-point grind more than last week’s 66-0 demolition of the Dolphins, Holbrook and the Knights were left to rue a second-straight last-gasp loss.
“If we come here and get beat convincingly, we can’t get frustrated by that,” Holbrook said.
“For us to come here and outscore them (four tries to three), it’s unlucky not to win the game. I thought we did enough. It’s hard to swallow because we’re expecting a lot of our team now, which is good. I like that... but it’s just it’s hard to take at the moment.”
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