Sharks rise up, up the ladder

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St George Illawarra Dragons v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

The Cronulla Sharks are up to third on the premiership ladder after recording a 38-10 victory in the traditional derby against the St George Illawarra Dragons.

Showing their class to turn a 14-10 lead midway through the second half into a runaway victory, the result extends the Sharks dominant record over the joint venture to 11 wins from 12 clashes since 2019.

The Sharks wasted little time in captialising on their first chance to attack with Jesse Ramien (7th minute) beating Mat Feagai with footwork from a scrum for first points.

With Ramien given a spell in the sin bin for high contact on Mat Feagai, the Dragons took advantage of their extra man after Jack Bird (23rd minute) chased a chip kick by Max Feagai to temporarily give the hosts the lead.

A terrific pass from returning halfback Braydon Trindall allowed Kayal Iro (27th minute) to demonstrate even better footwork to put the visitors back in front, while a great show of strength from Sam Stonestreet (34th minute) saw the Sharks take a 14-6 lead to the sheds.

Zac Lomax looked to score a fortuitous four-pointer early in the second half only for the bunker to deem Tyrell Sloan impeded Iro in the contest for the ball.

The Dragons managed to reduce the deficit with Luciano Leilua sending Christian Tuipulotu (54th minute) over in the corner, however that would be as close as the contest would come as Will Kennedy (57th minute) soared through the air to collect a Trindall bomb and touch down underneath the posts.

The Sharks finished strongly with tries to Briton Nikora (62nd minute) and Stonestreet (67th minute) securing three consecutive wins in Wollongong for the first time in the club's history.

A final try to replacement winger Mawene Hiroti (78th minute) rounded out the 38-10 result, lifting the Sharks into third position and guaranteeing a worst possible finish of a home elimination final.

The Dragons, in contrast, remain in eighth position but face a nervous final fortnight with the Broncos, Dolphins, Knights and Raiders trailing the joint venture by only one win. 

Next week, the Dragons will take to the Eels at Commbank Stadium on Saturday afternoon, while the Sharks host the Warriors at PointsBet Stadium later that night.