Joey rinses ‘horrible’ Dragons star in local derby loss
Dean Young’s half-time speech to the Dragons backfired, while one Red V player copped a pasting from Andrew Johns as Cronulla won 34-12 in a superb comeback without marquee men Nicho Hynes and Blayke Brailey.
After a sluggish start from both sides at Shark Park, a penalty goal in the 20th minute put the Dragons ahead.
Cronulla celebrates a try. Getty Images
Cronulla hit back quickly through Ronaldo Mulitalo but by half-time the Dragons were leading 12-6 after tries for Valentine Holmes and Mathew Feagai.
Nine’s Emma Lawrence reported from the sideline that Young’s message to his troops was simply around replicating the feeling they had from winning against the Broncos last round - their first win in 15 matches.
He’d have been wishing he said something else when Briton Nikora and William Kennedy made it 18-12 by the 50th minute.
The worst moment arrived seven minutes later when the Sharks had a scrum near halfway. KL Iro hit the line and skipped around a feeble effort from Moses Suli before Sam Stonestreet pushed up in support and scored.
Clint Gutherson was seen irate from the in-goal area before Johns ripped into Suli.
Moses Suli's attempt on KL Iro. Nine
“At this level, your punishment there should be you go in the middle of the field and make 20 tackles,” he said on Nine’s coverage.
“That’s horrible.”
The lead extended for the Sharks moments later when Mulitalo grabbed his second and effecitvely sealed the result.
Cronulla’s cherry on top came when Braydon Trindall dummied near the line and went over after Daniel Atkinson missed a one-on-one tackle.
“A great second half by the Sharks, led by their half Braydon Trindall and fullback William Kennedy was sensational,” Johns said.
“A real professional performance. They were quite flat in the first half but coach Craig Fitzgibbon challenged them and they rose to the challenge.”
St George Illawarra remain on the bottom of the ladder after 14 rounds.
