How wounded Sharks star pushed through 80 minutes of ‘agony’
Updated . First published
It was barely a month ago when Braydon Trindall dived over the line to score against the Raiders, and in doing so dislocated his shoulder.
At that point, the Sharks′ season looked to be in tatters. He had been their main attacking weapon all year, laying on an NRL-high 30 try assists.
Playing on virtually one arm, Braydon Trindall was brilliant against the Cowboys. NRL Imagery/Brett Costello
But on Saturday night, with virtually one arm, he made a triumphant return to the Sharks side as he led them to a clinical 26-16 elimination final win over the Cowboys at their adopted “home” at Allianz Stadium.
Trindall made three tackles in the opening minutes as the Cowboys looked to test out just how ready that shoulder was for the rigours of a finals footy, and for a moment it looked like he might have come back too soon.
“His arm has gone limp, he won’t be able to go on … there’s the game plan, get at Trindall and play off that,” Andrew Johns said on Nine during the first half.
“He’s as tough as they come.”
But the 27-year-old played through the pain, setting up a crucial second-half try for Will Kennedy to extend Cronulla’s lead late in the piece.
With one minute to go and the Cowboys searching for a late miracle, Trindall laid an error-forcing tackle on Heilum Luki – copping a burner in the process – to seal the result in front of 17,429 fans.
“He’s had a game and without doubt, I think he’s been Cronulla’s best. They’re just a different team when he’s in,” Johns said.
“He is in all sorts, he is just in agony. He was on his haunches, there he is holding that shoulder. They can’t win without him and he’s shown his ticker.”
Johns then posed how Trindall was going to “pull up” on Sunday after the game, to which Phil Gould simply replied “horribly”.
Speaking to media after the match, Trindall said he didn’t have pain-killing needles before the match, so getting through the full 80 minutes was pure mental grit.
“You can’t really needle a shoulder, so I just toughed it out,” he said.
“There was plenty of strapping, and I was wearing a brace too, so it was a bit hard to move at times, but I got through OK.
“There was plenty of rust tonight, and I’ve got plenty to work on, so we’ll have a good week of training and go into next week ready.”
Braydon Trindall salutes the Sharks fans. NRL Photos / Brett Costello
It will be welcome news to Sharks fans. In the three matches without him, the Sharks only beat a lowly Titans outfit, before back-to-back losses to the Eels and Storm to finish the season – two teams who missed the finals.
Without him, the Sharks were considered a long shot to even sniff a grand final.
But with him in the team, they have to be considered a genuine threat.
“We’ve got the team for it, and the boys are ready to go,” Trindall said.
“I felt like I was hitting them pretty good, and it’s good when you’ve got some outside backs to chase the ball as hard as our guys do.”
Two days after the initial injury, Trindall was back on the bike, and he was put through a rigorous contact session before his return was finally signed off.
Making his return easier – if that’s even possible – was the fact it was nothing new to him. He revealed he’d suffered a similar injury to the same shoulder mid-way through the 2024 season and played the year out.
Trindall said the pain levels were similar, which meant he was more easily able to prepare for the mental battle he was to face when the Cowboys forwards put it to the test and said it “wasn’t too bad” despite some nervous moments.
“I knew it was going to be a bit sore at times – it’s more of a mentality thing for me,” he said.
Once they got on the park, Cronulla opened the scoring with a penalty goal after Jaxon Purdue was judged offside. Moments later, KL Iro looked sure to score before a stunning tackle from Braidon Burns knocked the ball from his grasp.
In the 17th minute, Addin Fonua-Blake looked as if he had finally scored the Sharks’ first of the night when he scrambled over next to the post, but the Bunker intervened and controversially ruled the prop had made a double movement.
Ashley Klein ruled a second effort rather than momentum had taken Fonua-Blake into the in-goal.
“This is horrible … he was always going to end up in the in-goal,” Phil Gould said on Nine.
“That’s disgraceful. That’s not football.”
Addin Fonua-Blake is tackled before the line. Nine
Cowboys legend Jonathan Thurston said even he was sure it was a try.
But the Sharks finally did get on the board only minutes later when Siosifa Talakai scored with his fingertips.
So close was the call referee Grant Atkins initially allowed play to continue before asking the Bunker to have a look following the next tackle.
To this point, the Sharks had enjoyed more than 70 per cent of possession.
But against the run of play, Burns in his 100th match scored in the 27th minute to keep the Cowboys in the match.
On the half-hour mark, Sione Katoa put the Sharks further ahead, before KL Iro was denied again – this time by the Bunker – when he was judged offside.
It meant the Sharks went into the break with a 12-6 lead.
Both teams came out in the second half clearly re-energised, with neither able to make much of an impression.
But when Ronaldo Mulitalo was penalised for a big hit on Burns, Reed Mahoney brought the crowd back into play when he ran in to incite a melee.
Ronaldo Mulitalo’s tackle on Braidon Burns. Nine
The two teams were separated rather swiftly without much issue, but Gould was more concerned about why the penalty was given to the Cowboys.
“Where’s the contact with the head? It’s a brilliant tackle,” Gould said on Nine.
“What’s the penalty there? As soon as the crowd makes a noise, they want to pull up the game and penalise it. Leave me out, fair dinkum.”
Minutes later, the small but loud crowd of Sharks fans erupted as one when Katoa took an intercept and ran 60 metres to score.
North Queensland were kept in the contest when Nicho Hynes missed his second conversion of the night and when Scott Drinkwater converted a Zac Laybutt try just shy of the hour mark, the margin was only four points.
Trindall then stamped his authority to put Kennedy over, before Hynes scored a solo try under the posts and celebrated emphatically.
Purdue scored a late try for the Cowboys to give them a sniff of a comeback, but it was not to be.
