The experience of Wade Graham and the exuberance of Niwhai Puru steered the Sharks to a 28-16 win over the Knights in Friday night's Pre-Season Challenge clash in Gosford.
Graham's poise was crucial during a tight first half as the Sharks gradually took control while former Panther Puru had plenty of nice touches in the 12-point victory.
The Sharks opened the scoring in the fourth minute when Thomas Rodwell finished off some slick ball movement to score in the left hand corner. Niwhai Puru's conversion made it 6-0.
Former Bronco Tyson Gamble hit back for the Knights four minutes later courtesy of a nice offload from back-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon.
The Knights looked to have hit the front in the 17th minute when Dylan Lucas crossed but the try was disallowed due to obstruction in the lead-up by Fitzgibbon.
Both sides defended their line strongly for the next 15 minutes until some sleight of hand from Puru opened some space for Mawene Hiroti to score in the 32nd minute and the Sharks led 10-4.
In the shadows of half-time the Sharks extended their lead when Thomas Hazelton powered over from close range to cap a strong stint in which he ran for 56 metres from seven hit-ups.
A superb solo try to fullback Dan Atkinson early in the second half pushed the Sharks out to a 22-4 lead before the Knights grabbed a consolation try through Phoenix Crossland in the 73rd minute.
The try started on the Knights' side of halfway and featured some slick work from Adam Clune and Ben Talty before Crossland backed up to score.
Clune then produced another quality try assist with a pinpoint crossfield kick for Luke Pietzner to catch the ball on the full and score to make the score a more respectable 22-16.
In a helter skelter finish it was Atkinson setting up a try for Joshua Finau with another neat chip kick as the Sharks banked the five-try bonus point.
Click here to continue to original article
Story first published on: NRL.com