4 days ago
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Cronulla’s mid-season slide continued as Melbourne Storm highlighted the gulf between the Sharks and the genuine premiership contenders with a 30-6 triumph at AAMI Park on Sunday.
The Sharks, who were well placed in fifth position after winning seven of their first 11 games, have now lost four of their past five, sliding to 10th rung on the ladder. They were in sixth spot heading into the round.
A host of teams leapfrogged them on the points table over the weekend, although they remain one of only seven sides with eight or more wins in the bank.
After ambushing Melbourne 31-26 at Shark Park six weeks ago, Cronulla had an ideal chance to send a message on Sunday that they are ready to match it with the long-time heavyweights and stake a premiership claim.
And while they competed strongly for most of the match, the final scoreline would suggest they were put firmly in their place by Melbourne, who remain in third place with 10 wins, one victory behind Canterbury.
The top four – Canberra and Canterbury (both 28 points), Melbourne (26) and the Warriors (24) – are at least two wins clear of the chasing pack, leaving the Sharks in a dogfight to finish between fifth and eighth in the finals.
And while the Storm are masters at timing their run into the business end of the season, the Sharks have recently shown signs of faltering.
Melbourne led 10-6 after a torrid first half in which young winger Sualauvi Faalogo featured prominently, at both ends of the pitch, before he suffered a hamstring injury in the dying minutes.
The Storm grabbed the momentum from early in proceedings and piled on the pressure until the Sharks finally cracked in the sixth minute, when a short ball from halfback Jahrome Hughes found rampaging back-rower Eliesa Katoa, who broke the line and ran 20 metres to score.
Cronulla had two promising opportunities to reply when centre Siosifa Talaki created overlaps for winger Ronaldo Mulitalo, but they were unable to capitalise.
Faalogo made them pay in the 27th minute when Cronulla again attacked his edge and he intercepted a Nicho Hynes tap-on, racing 90 metres to score, and celebrating with a spectacular swan dive.
Six minutes later, however, the elusive utility back allowed a Hynes bomb to bounce, enabling Brayden Trindall to scoop up the dregs and wrestle the ball down over the line.
That was just the boost the Sharks needed heading into the break.
Five minutes after the resumption, a Ryan Papenhuyzen penalty goal extended Melbourne’s lead to a converted try.
Melbourne’s Sualauvi Faalogo on the burst against Cronulla.Credit: Getty Images
The Storm struck next in the 65th minute, when Hughes launched a bomb and Katoa caught cleanly before sending centre Nick Meaney with a clear passage to the line.
Papenhuzen’s conversion left the visitors chasing an 18-6 deficit with 14 minutes to play.
Faalogo was denied a second try in the 71st minute when his knee hit the sideline as he dived in to ground the ball.
Two minutes later, there was a sense of deja vu as Hughes bombed and Katoa outleapt Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy to latch onto the ball, before offloading to Hughes, who was on hand to score.
Faalogo’s day ended on a disappointing note when he tore a hamstring after an ankle-tap tackle and had to be carried from the field.
The Storm iced their win with a juggling last-minute try by lock Trent Loiero.
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