Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
24
Match Complete
Canberra Raiders
6
S. Katoa | 71 | |||
B. Trindall | 65 | |||
R. Mulitalo | 63 | |||
B. Trindall | 60 | |||
B. Trindall | 54 | |||
J. Williams | 52 | |||
J. Ramien | 15 | |||
5 | J. Fogarty | |||
4 | J. Rapana |
5 | Tries | 1 | ||
2 | Conversions | 1 | ||
0 | Penalty Goals | 0 | ||
0 | Field Goals | 0 |
It’s the final game of the 2023 NRL regular season as the Cronulla Sharks take on the Canberra Raiders. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 4:05pm AEST.
The Sharks were competitive for the opening 50 minutes against the Knights, but then their opponents cranked it up to another level leading to a 32-6 loss.
Back on home soil, the Sharks will be looking to end their regular season with a win before finals football. Nicho Hynes returns from injury which sees Brandon Trindall back at five-eighth.
The Raiders are in danger of missing out on finals football should other results go against them and they lose to the Sharks.
Josh Papalii is out with injury while Corey Horsburgh is suspended after a failed attempt to overturn at the NRL judiciary.
While the Raiders have the wood over the Sharks, this might be one step too far for the visitors which will see them miss out on finals. Sharks by 8
Venue: PointsBet Stadium
Kick-off: 4.05pm (AEST)
TV: Fox Sports, Nine
Streaming: Kayo Sports, Foxtel, 9Now
Odds: Sharks $1.33, Raiders $3.35 – odds via PlayUp
Sharks: 1. Connor Tracey 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Siosifa Talakai 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Blayke Brailey 10. Braden Hamlin-Uele 11. Briton Nikora 12. Wade Graham 13. Cameron McInnes 14. Jack Williams 15. Royce Hunt 16. Thomas Hazelton 17. Matt Moylan 18. Kayal Iro 19. Mawene Hiroti 20. Oregon Kaufusi 21. Jesse Colquhoun 22. Daniel Atkinson
Raiders: 1. Jordan Rapana 2. Sebastian Kris 3. Jack Wighton 4. Matthew Timoko 5. Nick Cotric 6. Matt Frawley 7. Jamal Fogarty 8. Emre Guler 9. Zac Woolford 10. Joseph Tapine 11. Hudson Young 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Corey Horsburgh 14. Tom Starling 15. Ata Mariota 16. Jarrod Croker 17. Hohepa Puru 18. Pasami Saulo 19. Albert Hopoate 20. Trey Mooney 21. Danny Levi 22. James Schiller
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Gladly Taree - about a year away from retirement - and would provide advice for nothing. I've only been following league properly for 20 years when I moved to Canberra for work. I played AFL and cricket until my early 20s so I'm not sure I'd qualify. But would gladly be part of the a voice of the Raiders supporters. I'm not alone. You should checkout The Greenhouse website - plenty of good comments on there from Raiders supporters. We can all see what the problems are but Ricky seems to live in his own bubble - immune from criticism or accountability. A bit of feedback from others should be part of his performance agreement.
Taree Raider
Roar Rookie
Geoff, you live down there. Any spare time available. Ricky could use you advice. You'd do it for free wouldn't you.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Would love to be positive Taree but the only way we are going to get close to Newcastle is play like we did today. And hope we can beat them something like 20-18. We just don't have the creativity to blow them off the park with a big score. Like you I thought we played really well for the first 60 minutes but when Seb Kris went off I think the writing was on the wall. Ricky needs to inject some attacking flair into this squad. Put Xavier Savage back to full back and leave him there. Give young Ethan Strange a crack at 5/8. It sounds like he has some great skills. Get some pace into the back line. Recruit some athletic back rowers and if they are available a 5/8 and a full back. There is some hope. The NSW Cup is in the finals. The first grade team has a real crack in most of the games they play so its not attitude. Croker is leaving so we no longer have to carry him. We need more in attack. Boring grindball and bleeding green won't cut it against the better attacking teams.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Not sure what was going on there - don't think he is injured which makes you wonder if Ricky knows what he is doing with the bench. Usually he flogs his main props in Tapine and Papalii and some of the bench forwards get very little time. So this was a change from the norm.
Taree Raider
Roar Rookie
Geoff, was in Melbourne seeing the son, lucky it was an AFL free weekend. Went into a Pub in Fitzroy & talked them into turning the Womans AFL over to the Raiders game, they wouldn't do it until 4pm sharp, but it was a fair effort by the Raiders, they really tried. They were a but unlucky in the first half. If Rapana scored & the drop goal went over it may have changed the vibe. You are dead right about the Raiders attack. The Sharks 1st try in the second half was how the Raiders have to play. I don't hold much hope up in Newcastle, but you never know. We need to be attack focused & the defence will take care of itself. If you are unpredictable in attack by offloading & spreading the ball continuously the oppositions defence can't set & tyre more quickly. So by focusing on attack you affect the defensive structure of the opposition. If we can change that in 7 days we are a chance.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
If he’s not injured ( Odin have mercy),he’s being saved.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
The rest of the forwards were pretty good but you wonder why Tapine didn't come on straight after half time. Surely your gun forward play the most minutes. Another Ricky brain explosion.
souvalis
Roar Rookie
You've got Buckleys if he's only got 33 in him next week.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
That was weird - 33 minutes according to NRL.com - Mooney 40, Saulo 32, Mariota 37 and Guler 42. I'm all for sharing the load more but Tapine is one of the best props in the world. He should be getting the most minutes of all the Raiders props - 50 at least.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Yeah let’s say significantly better :stoked:
Tony
Roar Guru
Good effort Arnie :thumbup:
Stormy
Roar Rookie
You've done marathon duties & done them well. Thanks for a great season calling, Arnab.
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Mate we are going to need it facing a red hot Knights team away. Don't like our chances. It was a great contest in the first half. But it wasn't much of a contest after Kris was sent off. Should be a great game next week with the Sharks up against the Roosters. I know the Roosters have shown some form of late but I reckon the Sharks can do it. Hopefully Tracey pulls up OK.
Stormy
Roar Rookie
A lot better, I think.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Good luck for next week Geoff
Geoff from Bruce Stadium
Roar Rookie
Disappointing second half by the Raiders. Once Kris was sent off there was no coming back. No malice in what he did but no question it was a send off. Can't question the grit, determination and effort by the Raiders but you need more than that to win these sorts of games. Lots of work needing to be done in the off season in terms of attacking structures. Time for a new attack coach. Its weird that Ricky played in such an exciting attacking team but he can't seem to get this team to click in attack. They simply aren't scoring enough points.
Cugel
Roar Rookie
I'm going for Brisbane, NZ, Canberra, and double forfeit.
Renegade
Roar Guru
I felt the sharks were already getting on top - Williams straight through the middle just before the send off…. and their defence never looked like breaking - still will need to be better next week
Arnab Bhattacharya
Roar Guru
Thank you all for joining the live blog today. It was an exhausting, but enjoyable week calling five of the eight games this round. Hopefully I'll be back for a few finals games. If not, it's been a pleasure blogging the 2023 NRL season games for The Roar and I'll be calling games during the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. This is Arnab Bhattacharya signing out. Take care, enjoy the rest of your weekend and goodnight.
Busted
Roar Rookie
The Energizer Bunny has nothing on him. Machine....