Sooner or later, you’re what your file says you’re, which should be complicated for Cronulla as a result of since 2022 they’ve had two of them.
There’s the common season one, which is imposing and spectacular — 48 wins from 72 begins is a formidable return in anybody’s language and places them behind solely Melbourne and Penrith for many wins in that point.
The Sharks have discovered a fast-paced, well-drilled fashion beneath Craig Fitzgibbon that works for them and from March to August it does a wonderful job.
However then there’s the opposite Sharks, those whose struggles want no introduction as a result of they have been talked about all week. Seven finals losses is unenviable however it’s the 4 straight beneath Fitzgibbon that actually makes for powerful sledding.
It isn’t a lot that the Sharks misplaced these video games, it is how.
Be it the slender losses to North Queensland and the Roosters or the heavy ones to South Sydney and Melbourne, there have been few durations the place they seem like the aspect who discover the grind of the common season so snug.
So Friday’s match wasn’t simply in opposition to the Cowboys, it was a battle contained in the Sharks as their greatest and worst selves fought out to see which one would survive.
Either side had their moments however in the long run there was sufficient of the good things for a 26-18 win that may not silence the doubters completely, however it’s a begin.
For the primary half, Cronulla seemed very like their common selves. Lengthy durations of set-for-set soccer — there have been simply three penalties all night time and never a single set restart — allowed them to get their sport on, with Braydon Trindall main the best way.
It was his fast considering in damaged play that led to the opening penalty attempt, which appeared to settle Cronulla’s nerves and allowed them to work their means right into a rhythm and tempo they’re snug with.
Between Trindall’s second attempt — which concerned a wonderful piece of improvisation from Trindall and Jessie Ramien — and the sharp management he performed with all through, he was the perfect participant on the sphere and a lot of Cronulla’s 24-0 half-time lead ran by him.
Trindall taking such a number one function within the aspect is not any small factor given Fitzgibbon’s Sharks have been so constructed round Nicho Hynes and the issues he does properly.
It has been open season on the halfback in current instances, particularly after an sad night time in Melbourne final week, as his massive sport performances come beneath the scrutiny that solely comes if you’re one in all rugby league’s largest stars.
Hynes has been an awfully dominant participant since arriving at Cronulla, even for a halfback. Over the previous two seasons, Hynes has averaged extra touches of the ball than any non-dummy half within the competitors.
Final yr, in Cronulla’s week one finals loss to an injury-hit Roosters aspect held collectively by good intentions and little else, Hynes touched the ball 87 instances, a very staggering quantity, whereas Trindall solely had it 35 instances.
This time, the cut up was much more even — Trindall completed in entrance, 54 to 51. Hynes didn’t have one in all his banner nights however as a result of their mixture is now extra well-rounded, he did not should.
From that base, the Sharks lastly bought their sport on when it mattered most. The again 5 bought moving into yardage, the forwards labored off the again of that — particularly Toby Rudolf, Cam McInnes and Briton Nikora, who all performed as if a Cowboy had as soon as wronged them in some deep and private means.
In the end, we had been seeing the perfect of the Sharks when it counted.
However the Cowboys are a tough proposition, even down loads. They boast attacking presents which can not all the time be managed and that makes them harmful — to each themselves and others — always.
A nervous 18-point lead doesn’t look like one thing that may be potential, however that is what settled on the SFS after Valentine Holmes scored simply after the break. As soon as Reuben Cotter scored, loads of throats had been getting tight.
The Cowboys aren’t as constant by their crew because the Sharks however they managed to outlive on excellent particular person efforts. Cotter’s efficiency was one and Tom Dearden, who was on the coronary heart of all the pieces they did properly, supplied one other.
If Scott Drinkwater, the final word rugby league gunslinger, had been capable of hearth just a few bullseyes, it might properly have been sufficient for North Queensland to run down the Sharks.
He was nonetheless doubtless, and fast on the draw, however the magic would not come. Passes went ahead, drop-outs went out on the total and when he did burst into area, a last-second ankle faucet from Will Kennedy saved a sure attempt.
Cronulla dominated possession and subject place within the second half and closed the sport out by Trindall’s kicking sport. It was not as flashy as the primary half, however it was efficient and that is all it needed to be.
It should take a much more full effort if the Sharks are to match it with Penrith in subsequent week’s preliminary last.
They have not scored a attempt in opposition to the Panthers since July of 2022 after being outscored 70-0 throughout their two matches over the previous two seasons, together with a 42-0 smash-up — at Shark Park, no much less — earlier this yr when Cronulla had been high of the desk and driving excessive.
They will not have forgotten that they usually’ll be after revenge. Forty good minutes will not be sufficient. Eighty of their greatest nonetheless may not be.
However by the top of this weekend, there will likely be 4 groups left within the competitors and Cronulla will likely be one in all them and after the collapses of current years, that is value one thing.
Certain, a thumping, riotous victory in opposition to the Cowboys may need slayed just a few extra demons however the losses they’ve copped up to now meant it did not matter how their first win collectively occurred, simply that it occurred in any respect.
