Cronulla have spoiled Shane Flanagan’s return to Shark Park, claiming a 20-10 win over St George Illawarra that retains them firmly locked in prime spot on the NRL ladder.
Teaching in opposition to Cronulla for the primary time since being ousted in 2018, Flanagan returned to PointsBet Stadium on Sunday desperately hoping his Dragons facet may discover a few of the grit that made his premiership-winning Sharks outfit so feared and revered.
The Purple V’s type has been inconsistent all season and a visit to face their nearest rivals got here every week on from their humiliating 60-18 Anzac Day loss to the Sydney Roosters.
And although Cronulla pulled away within the closing quarter of an hour, the guts and starvation the Dragons confirmed would undoubtedly have buoyed Flanagan.
The victory was the Sharks’ eighth-straight on this fixture and retains Craig Fitzgibbon’s males in first spot forward of a visit to second-placed Melbourne subsequent Saturday.
Cronulla appeared to be on track for a routine win once they hit the lead after 13 minutes as prop Oregon Kaufusi burst by way of some flailing Dragons defence to place the house facet forward.
However the Dragons, clearly stinging from final week’s gaping loss to the Roosters, performed with a more durable, extra resilient edge
Saints finally earned their reward when captain Ben Hunt despatched Mikaele Ravalawa over in the proper hand nook.
And whereas Zac Lomax missed his first conversion try, the Parramatta-bound centre made no mistake when changing Ravalawa’s second strive of the afternoon from a close to similar place on the stroke of halftime.
Main 10-6 on the interval, the Dragons’ hopes of pulling away from the Sharks have been dampened because the winds picked up and Nicho Hynes started to work his magic.
The Cronulla halfback despatched Siosifa Talakai rampaging excessive of Hunt for a 12-10 lead earlier than the sport fell right into a grinding battle of attrition.
A break from Sione Katoa was the catalyst, with Hynes holding the ball earlier than sending towering prop Tom Hazleton crashing over from shut vary.
Hynes nudged the conversion and added a penalty to run down the clock within the closing 10 minutes to wrap up the win.