'I think they’ll be top four': Sharks send statement by sinking Dragons in wet Wollongong

Cronulla have sent a statement to the rest of the NRL with a strong 36-12 against the St George Illawarra Dragons at WIN Stadium in Wollongong.

Even Dragons coach Anthony Griffin was impressed, tipping the Sharks for the top four and labelling them as the best team that his side have faced so far – particularly telling as the Dragons played premiers Penrith last week.

“You have to give Cronulla some credit, particularly their defensive effort, transition, kick chase and kick returns,” said Griffin. “They were a lot better than us.

“I think they’ll be top four the way they played tonight. It’s the toughest game we’ve had all year.”

Nicho Hynes was the dominant force in a Sharks side that defied the wet conditions to run up a score against their rivals, crowning an excellent performance with a superb individual try in the second half.

The new Cronulla halfback was back on song with the boot, too, making six of seven kicks after landing just one last week.

Sione Katoa, Matt Ikavalu, Siosifa Talakai, Jesse Ramien and Brandon Hamlin-Uele also crossed the stripe in a showing that marks Cronulla out as a force to be reckoned with in 2022.

Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon refused to get carried away, but said that his side were happy to play their footy despite the horrendous weather in Wollongong.

“We had a knack of making the most of our opportunities,” he said. “It was an extremely physical game.”

“We want to play how we play conditions aside, and there’s an element of risk in that, but we back the guys to play what they see.

“We got some nice footy there, but you have to earn the right to do that and the boys in the middle did that. It was a harder contest than the scoreboard suggests.

“I’m happy with the way that we’re building and the connections that we’re building, but it’s too early to say yet. I’m happy with the way the style that we’re playing, there’s parts of our defence that need work, but it’s early.”

He paid particular tribute to Hynes and the rest of the spine for their effort and willingness to get stuck in.

“Nicho is a good footy player,” said Fitzgibbon. “I’m happy with him, Matt (Moylan), Will (Kennedy) and Blayke (Brailey) working hard, training hard and getting involved in the game.

“There’s parts to work on, they’re not where they’re capable of being, but they’re building nicely. I love the effort, they don’t stop.”

The only black spots for the Sharks will be the fitness of Connor Tracey, who left in the second half with a groin complaint, and a potential disciplinary issue for Ramien, who was binned late on for a clear high shot.

The Dragons will be particularly concerned about the lack of go-forward that saw them average less than 30 metres per set, the lowest of the season so far by any team.

Tyrell Sloan, who has been effective in good ball so far in 2022, was exposed at fullback with only 64 running metres from 11 carries and looked very lightweight. Cody Ramsey was even worse, managing just 29m.

In a game where only Mikaele Rawalawa and Zac Lomax managed over 100m with ball in hand, St George Illawarra were well beaten.

“At crucial times tonight, things like transitions, kick chase, last play and turning up in defence, we weren’t there tonight,” explained coach Griffin.

Su’A sin binned for second week in a row

Jaydn Su’A found himself sent to the sin bin for the second consecutive week in a row, with the Dragons forward finding himself on report and sat down after a high shot on Cronulla lock Dale Finucane.

Su’A got ten minutes last week for a late shot on Sean O’Sullivan of the Panthers, which many thought was harsh, and an equal number of people will likely think this week’s incident was a little tough on the St George Illawarra man.

“I’d have to have another look at it,” said Anthony Griffin of the incident. “If they’re the rules, they’re the rules.”

“To me it didn’t seem overly high initially but we gave away three penalties in the first 30 minutes for high tackles that invited them down into our own end. We’ve got to be smarter than that.”

Su’A has now been binned six times since the start of 2019, with Griffin stating that it was up to the player to improve his tackle technique.

“I’ll work on the problem with Jayden and his technique rather than try to dissect the referee at the moment,” he said. “He’s got to be lower in his target. If you hit someone above the shoulders its going to be a penalty.”

It was a definite penalty, as he collected the head of Dale Finucane as he fell into a tackle, but perhaps a little unlucky to get sin binned as Su’A could hardly get out of the way as the former Melbourne man plummeted towards him.

“He’s never going to make a soft tackle,” said Andrew Voss on commentary of Su’A’s actions. Greg Alexander agreed, saying there were ‘mitigating circumstances’ in the tackle.

“There’s a defence,” said Brandy. “There’s mitigating circumstances. But if you make contact with the head it’s going to be a penalty and whether he deserved to be in the bin, that’s debatable.”

Penrith managed two tries in the ten minutes that Su’A missed last week, and Cronulla managed the same: Sione Katoa scored on the right, followed by Matt Ikuvalu on the left.