St George Illawarra jumped to the top of the NRL ladder with a 42-6 dismantling of Cronulla at Jubilee Oval on Sunday. The Dragons racked up their biggest win of the season after running in six tries to one against a listless Sharks side which shot itself in the foot repeatedly.
Paul McGregor’s side went into the game having scored the fewest tries in the NRL, despite being entrenched in the top four. However in front of 18,011 fans they showed they possessed plenty of spark in attack.
The Sharks were terrible in patches, committing fundamental errors including kicking dead from the kick-off twice, Ben Barba throwing a wild pass on his own goal line and Michael Ennis giving away a penalty after failing to make 10 metres from the drop out.
Cronulla managed one try, however even it should not have been awarded. After a Gareth Widdop penalty got the Dragons off to a 2-0 lead, the Sharks hit back through Valentine Holmes but replays showed he failed to ground the ball after chasing down a Jack Bird grubber.
On-field referee Adam Devcich had no hesitation in pointing to the spot however he should have referred it to the video referees after Holmes failed to apply downward pressure.
The Dragons went into half-time with a 14-6 lead after Josh Dugan and Mitch Rein crossed. Rein darted out of dummy half to score, showing why he was being considered for a NSW jumper should Blues hooker Robbie Farah not recover in time for State of Origin II.
It was all one-way traffic in the second half as the Dragons’ halves Widdop and Benji Marshall grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with the home side running in tries to Will Matthews, Jack de Belin, Peter Mata’utia and Eto Nabuli.
In Sunday’s earlier match, the Warriors edged an injury-depleted Newcastle side 24-20 at Mount Smart Stadium for the New Zealand side’s third consecutive NRL win.
Newcastle were already without skipper Kurt Gidley (thigh), prop Kade Snowden (neck) and lock Jeremy Smith (sternum) and they also lost half-back Tyrone Roberts to an ankle injury after just five minutes of play.
Yet the visitors were still able to take the match all the way to the wire after winger Akuila Uate’s second try with five minutes remaining set up a thrilling finale.
The Warriors held out though, tries from Tuimoala Lolohea, Manu Vatuvei, Ben Matulino and Jonathan Wright proving too much for the Knights.
As well as Uate’s double, Dane Gagai and James McManus were on the scoreboard for the Knights in front of 13,203 fans in Auckland.
