Round 2

The Sharks have now won 12 of their past 14 games against the Bulldogs and take bragging rights in the 100th clash between the two clubs.

A tough start for the Bulldogs with Poasa Faamausili out of the game after clashing heads with Cameron McInnes in the opening hit-up of the game.

The Sharks then lost Briton Nikora to the sin for a shoulder charge and the Bulldogs looked to have capitalised on the one-man advantage when Viliame Kikau crashed over but the try was ruled out due to referee getting caught in the defensive line and impeding Cronulla defenders.

With Reece Walsh outpointing Latrell Mitchell in the battle of the superstar fullbacks, the Broncos stormed home in the second half after the Rabbitohs had equalled the scores at 12-12 in the 45th minute.

Walsh and rookie winger Deine Mariner scored two tries apiece, while left centre Selwyn Cobbo, in just his second match since moving from the wing, was too hard to handle for the Souths defence.

However, the win was dampened by an injury to Reynolds, who started the match with his right knee heavily strapped and was forced from the field in the 70th minute.

The Broncos upset reigning premiers Penrith last Friday night, out-enthusing the more favoured home side in the forwards, with a late field goal by skipper Adam Reynolds securing Brisbane's first victory in Panthers territory since 2009.

After missing four games at the end of last season due to suspension, Broncos prop Patrick Carrigan didn't miss a beat, with 50 tackles for the match. Fullback Selwyn Cobbo ran 197 metres in his first NRL game as the starting No. 1.

Both sides will have taken plenty of positives out of their first-up efforts despite having nothing to show in the 'win' column - the Eels going to golden point against Melbourne, and the Sharks matching motors with Souths for much of the night despite going in without Nicho Hynes and losing Wade Graham to the bin.

Hynes is a chance to return from a calf injury but Graham faces three weeks on the sideline after he was charged with Dangerous Contact for a high shot on Rabbitoh Davvy Moale.

In the dying stages, they registered a nail-biting 9-8 victory against an equally determined Agmark Rabaul Gurias outfit.

With both teams locked up at 8 all, a successful field goal attempt by Vipers number 7 Karis Peter in the 77^th minute, broke the deadlock, giving Vipers their second straight win of the season.

It was a traditional arch rival clash that the Gurias would dearly love to host at their home turf the Kalabond Oval in Kokopo, however the venue was shifted back to the Santos National Football Stadium, at the last minute for security reasons.

The SP PNG Hunters have fallen short to a fast-starting CQ Capras side 26-16 in Round 2 of the Hostplus Cup at Browne Park, Rockhampton.

The Capras were on from the kick-off, working their way up-field in the opening set to launch an attacking kick skyward on the last. The Hunters couldn’t field it cleanly and Capras’ winger Brandon Roberts was the beneficiary, diving on the loose ball to open the scoring.  

Backrower Ethan O’Neill was next to score for the Capras, latching onto a perfectly weighted grubber from five-eighth Raedean Robinson to score next to the posts.

The Dogs got on the board first thanks to a Braidon Burns try. They were able to capitalise off a Broncos error when fullback Tesi Niu dropped a stunning Matt Burton bomb — that sideline commentator James Hooper dubbed “genius.”

Brisbane hit back through Corey Oates who scored off a pinpoint Albert Kelly kick.

Neither Burton or Reynolds could convert the tries to scores were locked up 4-all at half time.

Brimson took less than a minute to lay on the game's opening try for Beau Fermor and finished the day with two try assists, a line break and a line break assist in his first game at five-eighth since 2019.

The Raiders showed plenty of positive signs against the Sharks, holding their nerve to get home on the back of a late Hudson Young try after going 19-18 behind with seven minutes to play.

Ricky Stuart's men face a long road trip to Townsville but the Cowboys have failed to turn Queensland Country Bank Stadium into a fortress, losing their past five home matches.

One game the Cowboys did manage to win at home in 2021 came in round seven when they charged back from18 points down to beat the Raiders 26-24.

These two clubs have produced some epic contests over the years and the Sharks' home ground is sure to be rocking as they look to post their first win of 2022 and deny Parramatta back-to-back victories.

New recruits Dale Finucane and Nicho Hynes had some nice moments in the narrow loss to the Green Machine and they'll have big roles to play if Cronulla are to subdue one of the premiership heavyweights.