A dominant opening 40 minutes in Tamworth set the Sharks up for a 36-12 victory over the Wests Tigers on Saturday, which keeps them comfortably inside the NRL top four.
The Cronulla forward pack had a field day through the middle, with props Royce Hunt and Braden Hamlin-Uele getting over for tries and Cameron McInnes putting in a huge shift from the interchange, running for 138 metres and making 36 tackles in his 59 minutes on the field.
Cronulla scored four converted tries and kicked a penalty to lead 26-6 at the break, but while they were in control for most of the match at Scully Park, they never managed to fully shake off their stubborn opponents.
Four-pointers to Lachlan Miller and Matt Ikuvalu, which were both converted by Nicho Hynes, saw the Sharks score more than a point a minute through the first 10.
Fa'amanu Brown did hit back minutes later, but his effort was quickly cancelled out Hunt's try and Kade Dykes getting over for the first of his NRL career.
Hamlin-Uele scored 12 minutes into the second stanza, before the Tigers hit back with nice try to second-rower Luke Garner.
A dropped ball coming out of their own end saw the Wests Tigers gift Cronulla field position which they turned into a Jesse Ramien try, with Hynes missing his first kick of the night on the ensuing conversion.
Even with Teig Wilton spending 10 minutes in the bin late on, the Sharks held on for a victory which leaves them in third place on the ladder, now trailing the second-placed Cowboys only on differential.
Click here to read the full article
Source: NRL.com