Hynes goes for the onside kick and it doesn't pay off and the Raiders have snatched victory!
Fogarty adds the extras.
With time running low for the Raiders, Young went blindside before linking up with Xavier Savage. A clever grubber got a fortuitidous bounce, Weekes flicked it back in somehow! He found Sasagi before unloading to Kris and the RAIDERS have DONE IT
CANBERRA ! THEY HAVE PULLED IT OUT OF THE FIRE
THAT IS RUGBY LEAGUE AT IT'S ABSOLUTE FINEST LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!
YOU ARE KIDDING ME !
Trindall goes himself but Canberra has to go 95+ plus to get a lead.
Hazelton going close... he will be denied.
Oh no... Raiders spill possession and the Sharks get it back.
Great take from Tamale.
Now or never for the Raiders you suspect.
CHALLENGE SUCCESSFUL
CHALLENGE: On field call of a Sharks knock-on.
Great take from Kris and the Raiders survive.
Minimal contact that time according to the bunker.
PENALTY SHARKS: High tackle by Simi Sasagi.
Great ball from Hudson Young sends Savelio Tamale down the touchline, he took on Kennedy and that was a great defensive play.
BIG TACKLE! Ethan Strange saves the day with a great one-on-one tackle from Jesse Ramien.
Back 13 v 13 with Young returning from the sin-bin.
WOW! Great take from Stonestreet under difficult conditions.
CHALLENGE SUCCESSFUL RAIDERS: Hand over 10 by 10
CHALLENGE RAIDERS: On field ruling is a knock on from Weekes.
Ramien is staying down here appealing for a crusher. It will not be called as such - sensible decision.
PENALTY SHARKS: Not square at marker.
3 minutes to go for Hudson in the bin.
Canberra keeping it alive and really taking it to the Sharks despite being a man down.
Nikora's pass was forward. Kasey Badger was in perfect position and called it as such.
Sharks survive - good defensive scramble from the visitors.
Hudson Young still on the sideline for the next seven and a bit minutes.
Hynes adds the penalty goal.
PENALTY SHARKS: High tackle
That is what the NRL were talking about, direct and forceful to the head with no mitigation. Clear sin-bin on review
HERE WE GO! FIRST BIN OF THE WEEKEND!!
They contest it but Tamale has knocked it on here I suspect but hang on
Raiders compete on the kick but Savage knocks it on. No Shark wanted a bite of it!
Great carry from Joseph Tapine
Thought the tip on was forward from Ramien, the officiating crew agrees.
Good hit from the Sharks there from Mawene Hiroti and it is Xavier Savage who puts it down.
Timoko tried to get a prize for the Logies but the referee (judges) reject his bid.
Kennedy for the catch and pass and that is a big win for the Raiders goal line defence.
Big Tooks goes close but will be denied!
SIX AGAIN SHARKS: Flop
ACROBATIC take from Sam Stonestreet - RUCK INFRINGEMENT SHARKS: Slow
Good kick from Ramien but Weekes takes no chances and we will have a goal line dropout.
SIX AGAIN SHARKS: Slow peel.
Ball has been play for quite a long period of time.
Tuku Hau Tapuha now enters the action.
Not a good end of set from the Raiders - but Trindall takes it a couple away from his own line.
SIX AGAIN RAIDERS: Slow peel
Kick from Fogarty is well defused from the Sharks.
Weekes from dummy half - great defensive stand!
That wasn't a great kick from Hynes - Stonestreet took it on the bounce but threw a hospital ball to Ramien and the Raiders get great starting field position.
HT report: Raiders "even contest but be more patient" - Sharks were positive "work on field position, Raiders were on top in that area" via Lara Pitt. She also mentioned Addin Fonua-Blake was getting his shoulder strapped but will return in the second half.
Both sides through their opening set of the second half. Sharks looking a touch small in the middle, wonder if Canberra will exploit it early in this second half.
Back underway for the second half.
Hynes converts.
Doesn't that penalty prove costly now. Nikora gets the ball in an impractical position on the last, a great grubber which went into the legs of Corey Horsburgh, it allowed Nikora to kick it again and he beat Weekes to the ball to score.
WOAH! Late call from Todd Smith but it is 100% as he played advantage for the Sharks - Tamale was so far in front he thought he was a politician after one booth was counted claiming victory. PENALTY SHARKS: Inside 10m
One word to describe this set from the Sharks: YUCK!
Dan Atkinson playing through the middle. Bit surprised to see him there when you have Hohepa Puru that can have better middle production.
Good kick from Fogarty there will force the Sharks to turn it over 10m out.
Seb Kris retrospectively placed on report - mitigation of Stonestreet slipping there preventing further action. Kick was a hard one again for Weekes to take.
Good set post points from Canberra as Sam Stonestreet has to go back and recover.
Successful from Fogarty.
Following a lethal Jamal Fogarty bomb that was spilled by Sam Stonestreet, the Raiders went on the attack. Despite a good read on Seb Kris by the Sharks edge defence, he was able to get a cracking offload away to Young who crosses for his second try.
Jamal Fogarty again with the spiral and Samuel Stonestreet spills it like he was handling the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!
Good comfortable take under the high ball from Kaeo Weekes.
Sharks getting rhrough their set post points.
Hynes makes no mistakes.
Cronulla answered swiftly following a cheap yardage error. A simple crash ball from Braydon Trindall to Briton Nikora sent the backrower through the left edge defenders to ground the ball into the in-goal.
Cheap mistakes coming out of yardage. Bad pass from Horsburgh to Nicholson.
Fogarty's kick from about 20 metres in and 20 metres out and he has nailed it! Raiders lead 12-6.
As both sides settled, eventually it would take a magical moment to get them the lead. Fortunately, a clever play from hooker Tom Starling saw the home side take the lead. After scheming out of dummy half, a clever kick saw a flying Hudson Young fly through and ground the ball.
PENALTY RAIDERS: High tackle from Oregon Kaufusi.
Great take from Kennedy under the high ball! He had a long way to run to get that spiral but he did very well there!
Both sides playing the possession game after a frantic opening to this one.
Bit of drama there - thought Hiroti knocked it on but Todd Smith didn't and the Sharks get a fresh set thanks to Savage knocking it on. It will not cost them though as Cam McInnes knocks it on. I can excuse Todd Smith missing it, but the touch judge was right there and missed it point-blank.
PENALTY SHARKS: Obstruction.
Canberra immediately hit back with a second try, Kaeo Weekes breaks straight through some poor defence, Kennedy cannot beat him and the Raiders have a second try... BUT HANG ON ! We are looking at obstruction.
Sharks go blindside on the last - Hynes is taking the ball to the line, but Billy Burns' ball carrying arm touches the ground.
Canberra cannot capitalise on field position. Great tackle by Ramien and the Sharks survive.
SIX AGAIN RAIDERS: Ruck infringement.
PENALTY RAIDERS: Stealing the ball.
Sharks convert their set after points.
Great kick from Hynes and we are level at 6-all.
The theme early was capitalising on poor discipline and the Sharks were rewarded when Mawene Hiroti continued to tear apart Canberra's right edge as Matt Timoko was burnt for pace to allow the Newtown centre get a try on NRL return.
PENALTY RAIDERS: Inside 10m
Canberra convert the set after points.
Fogarty adds the extras. 6-0.
That is a horrific read in defence from the Sharks and Matty Nicholson gets the first try. Kaeo Weekes took Nicholson underneath and he broke through some poor defence from Oregon Kaufusi and Blayke Brailey to get over the line.
SIX MORE RAIDERS: Ruck infringement
Cronulla safe to say didn't really muster up much in attack so Canberra survive nice and early.
Sharks get six more following another bomb test for Kaeo Weekes who has been his own worse enemy under the high ball.
OFF WE GO! Todd Smith blows time on and we are good to go for Round 5 of the NRL season.
Referee is Todd Smith who is in his 74th NRL game. Kasey Badger and Phil Henderson as touch judges with Ashley Klein in the bunker. AJ Lucantonio with you on League Unlimited and kickoff will be approaching at 8pm.
Welcome to Round 5 of the NRL season which is the first of our themed rounds in 2025 with MultiCultural Round taking off for the fourth successive season. It's Canberra v Cronulla from GIO Stadium in the nation's capital. Onto team news, Morgan Smithies gets a start with Josh Papali'i going to the bench. Elsewhere, the Sharks have Teig Wilton unavailable with illness. Billy Burns gets the start with Hohepa Puru as 18th man.
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Todd Smith
Touch Judges: Kasey Badger, Phil Henderson
Video Referee: Ashley Klein
CANBERRA RAIDERS (24)
Tries: Matt Nicholson, Hudson Young (2), Sebastian Kris
Conversions: Jamal Fogarty (4/4)
CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKS (20)
Tries: Mawene Hiroti, Briton Nikora (2)
Conversions: Nicho Hynes (3/3)
Penalty Goals: Nicho Hynes (1/1)