The Cronulla Sharks strengthened their 2021 finals credentials by securing a hard fought 24-16 victory over a much improved Broncos side that finished fast on Saturday night.
The Sharks had all the ball in the opening 6 minutes, which helped them secure the first points of the game in the 4th minute, when the ball was sent to Will Kennedy on the right, who held up a cut-out pass to Sione Katoa, who dived for the corner and scores within half a hairs width of the sideline. Braydon Trindall failed to convert from touch.
Then it was the Broncos turn to get a full 6 minutes of possession and they too scored. Jake Turpin exploded out of dummy half through some lazy marker defence, before passing to Tesi Niu who very nearly scored, but was brought down a metre short of the line by Luke Metcalf. On the next play, Albert Kelly on the right kicked to Xavier Coates who competed with Mawene Hiroti for the ball. Hiroti tried to bat it dead, but failed and Coates scored in the right corner. Herbie Farnworth failed to convert from out wide.
The Broncos took the lead in the 19th minute when Anthony Milford held up a pass to Niu, who dummied then slipped between the Sharks sliding defence, running in and around to score near the posts. Farnworth converted.
Thomas Flegler was put on report and sent to the sin bin for ten minutes shortly after, for a high tackle on Jack Williams. The Sharks immediately punished the 12-man Broncos by scoring a try in the 24th minute, when Jesse Ramien dummied to his right winger, before stepping infield and barging over to score a strong try. Trindall converted from out wide to level the scores.
In the 33rd minute, Sione Katoa made a break down the right wing, then came back into the middle looking for support, where he eventually sends a low ball to Connor Tracey who catches it skillfully, falls forward and slides over the line as he's being tackled, to score a good try. Trindall converted.
Just as the halftime siren was about to sound, Flegler was penalised for an illegal strip and Trindall kicked a penalty goal, giving the Sharks an 18-10 lead at the break.
Four minutes into the second half, Trindall received the ball on the last, 10 metres from the Broncos line, and dished a crash ball to Briton Nikora who got a good offload away back inside to Trindall who broke a tackle then spun out of the cover tackle from Niu to score near the posts. Trindall converted his own try.
The Broncos though hit back in the 50th minute after Payne Hass made a barnstorming run. From the next play, Milford broke through the line and turned the ball inside nicely to Niu who raced away to score to the left of the sticks. Farnworth converted to reduce the margin back to 8 points.
Brendan Piakura made his way onto the field for his debut, but shortly after was sent to the sin bin for a late hit on Trindall.
Both sides produced try scoring opportunities but failed to convert them into points. Matt Moylan's defence in the back end of the game helped deny the Broncos 2 tries, while the Broncos seemed to be playing with more and more confidence and speed.
The Broncos though could not bridge the gap. Trindall attempted to kick a field goal right on fulltime but it was waved away.