Sharks and Roosters claim NRL wins

Cronulla Sharks moved back into the top four with a 26-12 win over South Sydney Rabbitohs in Luke Lewis' 300 NRL match and Sydney Roosters eased to victory against bottom side Newcastle Knights.

Defending premiers Cronulla were soundly beaten by Gold Coast Titans last weekend, but responded by seeing off the Bunnies at Southern Cross Group Stadium on Friday.

Wade Graham and Fa'amanu Brown scored first-half tries either side of a Braidon Burns four-pointer, with the returning James Maloney converting both Sharks scores and also landing a penalty to make it 14-6 at the break.

John Sutton's converted try reduced the deficit to only two points, but Gerard Beale and Ricky Leutele crossed in the final 10 minutes and the Rabbitohs suffered a late blow when captain Sam Burgess went off with what appeared to be a rib injury in Lewis' landmark game.

Leutele scores!#NRLSharksSouths 26-12 with one minute remaining. #NRL pic.twitter.com/SVVYLlJghl

— NRL (@NRL) July 21, 2017

The Roosters took another stride towards sealing a top-four finish with a five-try 28-4 win over the Knights at Allianz Stadium.

Blake Ferguson scored a try in his first game back from State of Origin duty, while Luke Keary, Daniel Tupou, Isaac Liu and Connor Watson also crossed.

One positive for the Knights was a debut try for Shaun Kenny-Dowall against the club he left after pleading guilty to drug possession in a Sydney nightclub.

The offload from @Fergyferg4 #NRLRoostersKnights 28-4 with 5 minutes remaining. #NRL pic.twitter.com/g7Lm1PGgEi

— NRL (@NRL) July 21, 2017

 

Photo Getty Images. Caption: Luke Lewis celebrates a win in his 300th NRL match