7 hours ago
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They don’t have a hair on their heads between them, and command little hype. But Cronulla’s largely unheralded playmakers Will Kennedy and Braydon Trindall have spearheaded another point-scoring blitz in a 36-22 victory over the Warriors.
While the Kiwi side will be sweating on a late hamstring injury to Luke Metcalf and Sharks centre Jesse Ramien will undergo scans on a suspected MCL injury, Trindall’s fine early season form rolled right on Easter Sunday.
Trindall and Kennedy cut the Warriors to ribbons more than once at Shark Park as they repeatedly targeted the visitors’ right-edge defence and came up trumps.
A tough day at the office for centre Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad – he was found wanting more than once by the Sharks playmakers – ended early with a heavy head knock, but Metcalf’s woes are particularly wrenching given this was just his second NRL game back from an ACL rupture.
On the other side of the ledger, Kennedy’s shaved pate was impossible to miss in the afternoon sunshine as he scythed through the Warriors twice in the space of four minutes – scoring his first when Trindall held the defensive line up and his second from a well-worked scrum play.
The fullback had to take a reduced one-year deal to stay in Cronulla colours for this season and is one of more than a dozen first-graders coming off-contract at the Sharks.
You wouldn’t know it based on his start to 2026, while Trindall’s status as the club’s dominant playmaker once again shone bright as he and Nicho Hynes repeatedly skewered the Warriors defence.
A 24-10 halftime lead was deserved given the Sharks’ ascendancy and willingness to play expansively despite pre-game drizzle.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak’s hat-trick kept the Warriors just about within reach in the first stanza – particularly a 90-metre intercept that would have produced another Sharks try had the veteran winger not latched onto it.
But with KL Iro also muscling his way onto the scoresheet and Billy Burns also charging over from a Hynes short ball, the Sharks could have easily helped themselves to another try or two as well.
Watene-Zelezniak’s third of the afternoon courtesy of a sharp left-edge shift in the 42nd minute briefly rekindled hope of another Shire comeback by the visitors.
The Warriors’ recent history includes revivals from 20 and 18 points down, in 2023 and 2024, on the same turf. But Brailey’s grubber for Teig Wilton to score put Cronulla firmly on top, and Siosifa Talakai following suit kept them there despite a late Erin Clark try.
