Sharks cop horror injury blow as crowd fumes at late Bunker decision
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Cronulla’s premiership hopes have taken an enormous hit, with Braydon Trindall suffering a shoulder injury in his side’s 24-20 loss against the Raiders.
Early in his side’s clash at Shark Park, the in-form Trindall smartly grubbered for himself and dived on the loose ball to score.
Braydon Trindall in pain after suffering a shoulder injury. Fox League
Trindall got up slowly to celebrate with his Sharks teammates, but quickly realised there was an issue and immediately signalled towards the trainer.
The five-eighth left the field and walked straight up the tunnel.
“This is concerning for the Sharks. He’s in big trouble here, he’s come straight from the field ... this is huge,” Luke Keary said on Fox League commentary.
“He knew straight away, that shoulder could be dislocated.
“He’s in all sorts of discomfort and that would be a massive loss for the Sharks, he’s probably been the best five-eighth in the comp this season.”
Sideline reporter Lara Pitt soon confirmed that Trindall indeed popped his shoulder out, but the Sharks medical staff were able to get it back into place.
“They are hit and miss these shoulders, it depends on the damage when it comes out and whether there’s ligament damage in there,” Keary said at half time.
“It will be a few weeks at least rehabbing it.”
Speaking post-game, Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon wasn’t able to deliver an update on Trindall and when he would be cleared to return.
“Not sure yet,” Fitzgibbon said.
“It’s not ideal, he’s pretty important. No one has any idea at this stage, but it [the shoulder] definitely went out and went straight back in, so that’s a good sign.”
After taking an 8-0 lead early in the first half, Cronulla allowed the visitors back into the contest as Xavier Savage and Owen Pattie crossed for tries.
In the second half, Cronulla regained the lead after a brain explosion from Stuart, who threw a wayward pass to fullback Kaeo Weekes just 10 metres out from the Raiders’ own tryline, allowing Will Kennedy to pounce and score.
“What a blunder,” commentator Matt Russell said.
Raiders captain Joseph Tapine crashed over mid-way through the second half to keep the see-sawing nature of the clash going, but it looked like the Sharks had levelled it with seven minutes to go when Ronaldo Mulitalo reached out.
Ronaldo Mulitalo reaches out for the line. Fox League
However, on-field referee Gerard Sutton ruled that Mulitalo planted it short of the line and the Bunker stuck with his decision, prompting chants of “bullshit” from the Sharks fans as they watched their side’s top-four spot slip away.
Fitzgibbon wasn’t drawn into the Mulitalo no try decision, but did admit some of the officiating against the Raiders left him frustrated.
“I’m not a sook with calls, but look at offside, they were so offside,” he said.
“That didn’t cost us the game. Canberra don’t deserve to win via a shit call, that was just the way it was - but there were some [bad] calls today.”
With a few minutes to go, Cronulla had another golden opportunity to level the margin or go ahead, but an error from Hynes ended their run of possession.
The final play of the game saw fill-in Sharks centre Mawene Hiroti throw an offload past winger Sione Katoa, sealing the side’s second-straight defeat.
The loss means the Sharks remain in fifth spot on the ladder, after the Dolphins jumped them with a clinical 22-0 win over Manly on Friday night.
