The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks have turned in an impressive performance to improve to 3-1, while their opponents the Newcastle Knights have lost their 2nd straight match.
There were winds of 65 kilometres per hour at Pointsbet, and it showed from the opening siren as the kickoff sat up for the Sharks to immediately go on the attack. Nonetheless, the Knights were able to see off their initial raids and the contest developed into an arm wrestle over the first 25 minutes or so.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 27th minute when the milestone man Aiden Tolman miraculously got over the line first in his 300th. His crash ball effort close to the line brought him up to a whopping average of 0.053 tries per game in his career, while also joining the 21% of 300 gamers who score a try in their 300th game.
In the ensuing set from the kickoff, the Sharks looked to have scored again, with the combination of the wind and high balls creating havoc for the Knights at the back. The ball was allowed to bounce, and Katoa only had Ponga to beat at the back, which he did with a kick ahead and the ball sat up for him, but he bounced the ball in the in goal, giving the Knights a reprieve.
Four minutes later, it looked as if the Sharks had extended their lead, when Moylan did well to sum up a chaotic passage of play with half a break through the line followed by an offload to a barnstorming Talakai, who dived over for the try. The bunker then stepped in to overturn, ruling Saifiti was obstructed in the lead-up.
The Sharks wouldn't be denied a third time. Sione Katoa more than made up for his earlier gaffe as he was on the end of a slick Sharks backline movement, before executing one of the more acrobatic putdowns you'll see right on the half-time hooter to give his side an 8-0 lead going into the break.
The second half was almost a carbon copy of the first. Through the first 27 or so minutes it was an arm wrestle, with both sides having their opportunities, before the Sharks finally broke through in the 69th minute. Hynes threw a beautiful cutout pass to Mulitalo, who drew and passed to Talakai, who was able to get away from Kurt Mann's cover defence to run away for his 2nd try of the year.
The result was put beyond doubt in the 76th minute, and Talakai again had a lot to do with it, easily getting rid of Gagai before passing off to Mulitalo in space. He put a kick through for Will Kennedy, who grounded it for his 2nd try of the season.
Hynes finally kicked a conversion to make the final score 18-0 in favour of the Sharks.
Next week, the Sharks host the Tigers on Sunday Afternoon in what should be a layup of the game, while the Knights will look to bounce back at home against the Sea Eagles on Thursday Night.