Dragons coach Shane Flanagan‘s much-anticipated return to Shark Park did not end the way he hoped, with St George Illawarra defeated by the Cronulla Sharks 20-10.
The Rev V will also have to wait for the match review committee’s judiciary report after Tyrell Sloan was placed on report for a trip on Sione Koata in the second half.
The Sharks winger made a strong line break before he was tripped by the fullback, with Cronulla prop Tommy Hazelton later going on to crash over the line.
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“That was just a blatant bad one. There’s no excuse for that,” Phil Gould said in the commentary for Nine.
“He doesn’t try to make a tackle. He just throws the right leg out and trips him over in a try-scoring position.
“Some of them can be a little bit reactionary.”
League legend Paul Gallen doubts the fullback will serve a time on the sidelines for the incident.
“These are like almost accepted these days, years ago it was a send off,” Gallen said on Nine.
“For some reason they’re accepted, he’ll cop a fine but I doubt he’ll get suspended.”
The Sharks opened the scoring by making the most of some good field position, with powerhouse prop Oregon Kaufusi charging over the line.
Not long after, Dragons half Kyle Flanagan smashed into Nicho Hynes after he made a kick with tensions threatening to boil over. Referee Todd Smith left the pair to sort out their issues in the back of play, with no penalty awarded for the contact.
“They’ve missed one there, those days are gone where you can tackle a kicker in the air,” Billy Slater said on Nine.
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The Dragons hit back in the 26th minute when Ben Hunt recorded his 14th try assist, launching a pass down the right to send Mikaele Ravalawa over in the corner.
The winger went back over not long after, leaving the Sharks trailing by four at half-time.
Five minutes after the break, Cronulla’s Siosifa Talakai wrestled his way over the line to put the Sharks back in the lead, charging over Hunt to score.
Multiple set restarts on the Dragons line gave the Sharks a strong opportunity to score again before Katoa offloaded into Talakai who knocked the ball on in-goal.
Cronulla skipper Cameron McInnes requested a captain’s challenge with the decision kept the same by the Bunker.
“They have plenty of time to win this game… that was a panic challenge,” Phil Gould said on Nine.
“They’ve wasted it! The game wasn’t there to be won right at that moment.
“You’ve got to keep them [the captain’s challenge] up your sleeve.”
Errors continued to amount across the field, with both sides repeatedly making minor mistakes and losing the ball despite the rain finally coming to an end.
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Right after Sloan’s trip, Hazelton crashed over the line for the third time in three games, with Hynes successfully converting to push the Sharks ahead by eight.
The Sharks won a penalty after attacking the Dragons line for repeated sets, with Hynes electing to take a kick with only minutes remaining on the clock – sealing the win for Cronulla.