Canberra had to overcome playing with 12 men for close to half an hour as they dominated an out-of-sorts Cronulla to claim a 30-10 win on Sunday.
In front of 30,453 fans at the NRL’s Magic Round at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, the Raiders secured their biggest victory of the season and grabbed back-to-back wins for the first time this year.
It was an ugly performance from the high-flying Sharks, but the biggest concern for coach Craig Fitzgibbon will be a concussion sustained by skipper Dale Finucane.
Josh Papalii greeted Finucane with a powerful hit and the Sharks No. 13 rode the collision, only to be met by Elliot Whitehead’s shoulder.
Finucane, unsteady on his feet, was in no condition to carry on as referee Liam Kennedy sent Whitehead to the sin bin.
Finucane failed his HIA for the fourth time in the last two seasons and the latest concussion will undoubtedly worry Cronulla.
Canberra were at one point reduced to 11 men after Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Corey Horsburgh were both sent for 10 either side of the half-time break.
Cronulla, who shifted Nicho Hynes to fullback to cover for Will Kennedy’s suspension, never got going. They had 60 per cent of possession in the second half but could only score when Canberra were a man down.
Hynes played most of his football at fullback for Melbourne last year but he had a moment to forget when he dropped a Brad Schneider bomb with Papalii crashing over on the next set for the Raiders.
The Raiders also capitalised on a series of backline blunders from Cronulla’s Sione Katoa.
The winger was a target for halfback Matt Frawley’s kicking with Sebastian Kris and Corey Harawira-Naera scoring tries on the back of his errors.
Canberra lost Nicoll-Klokstad for a professional foul just before half-time but it wasn’t until the 54th minute when Horsburgh was this time in the bin that Katoa opened the scoring for the Sharks.
The only other Cronulla try was a crash ball from Royce Hunt in the final minute that Whitehead was off the field.
Schneider, who had scored a first-half penalty, bagged a try late on to ensure the Raiders secured a second-straight win. Hudson Young crossed for a breakaway try for the Raiders.
