Yes, Cronulla, you deserve respect. You are the real deal

2 hours ago 1

The respect Sharks players have craved has been well and truly earned.

They are off to another preliminary final, they have won nine of your last 10 games, their defence has been sensational, and they are entitled to believe they can upset Melbourne in their own backyard next Friday night and play in the grand final.

The Sharks broke Canberra hearts with a 32-12 victory on a chilly Saturday night in the nation’s capital.

Most of the Raiders fans were only just starting to recover from the horror show that was the 94-minute golden-point loss to the Broncos six days earlier.

Those fans have had so much to cheer this year, but they will spend the next few months wondering what could have been after bowing out of the finals in straight sets.

Things were not helped when Ethan Strange was ruled out on Saturday morning because of the flu. You need luck in September, and Canberra’s failed to appear when most needed.

Oh we’re the real deal, baby. Cronulla celebrate a try against Canberra.

Only the players will know if they were mentally and physically hungover from the Brisbane epic.

But let’s get back to the Sharks and why they are the real deal.

Nicho Hynes noted during the week how the Shire club rarely received the accolades they deserved, and whenever they won, the focus was often on the losing team, bad calls, or which players they had out injured.

“I just don’t think that we get any respect – ever,” he proclaimed.

Under coach Craig Fitzgibbon, they have made four straight finals series.

On this night, they defended their line for what felt like an eternity in the first half, only to hit the sheds 12-6 ahead after Ronaldo Mulitalo and Hynes scored within three minutes.

Matt Timoko was penalised for running Mulitalo off the ball, and in the next set Mulitalo crossed when Hynes rifled a lovely cutout ball into his chest. Hynes scored off the next set.

Cronulla came into the game having given up just three tries in their previous two games, and were in no mood to give the Raiders any leg-ups.

They kept turning the home side away, and their scramble defence was outstanding. There was plenty of focus on holding the Raiders players up and trying to get as many as three or four defenders into tackles.

Toby Rudolf takes on the Raiders defence.

The Green Machine hit back early in the second half via Savelio Tamale, but from that moment, Cronulla were in control.

Billy Burns skipped through some soft defence from Zac Hosking and Fogarty to score, Hosking then clipped Blayke Brailey high to put the Sharks eight points ahead. Then, KL Iro all but sealed the win when he was on the spot to mop up an ugly Trindall bomb that took a wicked bounce.

Prop Addin Fonua-Blake was brilliant. Mulitalo was also top shelf.

There was a concerning moment when Tom Hazelton was knocked out when tackled by Tom Starling. The pair appeared to clash heads. Starling did nothing wrong, but Hazelton, who grew up in nearby Goulburn, was out cold before he hit the ground. One positive was the fact he could walk from the field.

The Raiders faithful were in full voice, with club legend Bradley Clyde blowing the Viking horn, and one kid enjoying a ‘shoey’ when he realised he was on the big screen at half-time. For the record, it was a can of Sprite.

Grant Atkins has to be in the running to referee the grand final. Listening to the sports ears at the ground, Atkins is clear with his messaging, and like all good players, appears to have plenty of time with what he is doing.

Who knows, he might be joined by the Sharks on the big day.

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