In a not entirely unexpected development,
given the defection of Ben Barba and the retirement of Michael Ennis, Cronulla
lost the opening match of their NRL title defence, going down 26-18 to a spirited
Brisbane Broncos side.
The Sharks had Adam Blair pinned in his own
in-goal area thirteen seconds in, but they never really controlled the match.
Broncos’ winger Jordan Kahu was the star of the show, converting all four of
his team’s tries, scoring the first himself against the run of play, and slotting
a penalty goal in the eighteenth minute after which i giallomarroni never trailed.
The hosts had only themselves to blame:
much of the Brisbanites’ first-half yardage came courtesy of penalties,
promising advances to the goal line being snuffed out only by ball-handling
errors. Cronulla equalised through Gerard Beale in the eleventh minute, but
Kahu’s penalty goal and James Roberts’ grounding off a superb Anthony Milford
kick put the Broncos up 14-6 at the break, having secured three-fifths of
possession and completed six more sets.
When Corey Oates went over in the corner
six minutes into the second stanza, it felt over, and the Harold Holt metaphors
started flowing thick and fast. But there were some late flourishes: Chad
Townsend broke the line and chipped for James Maloney to chase and score
Cronulla’s second try. Ten minutes later, CSFC’s momentum induced a Ben Hunt
dropped ball leading to a Ricky Leutele try.
With the margin at two points, it was a
nervous period for the visitors. They endured Korbin Sims being held up before
Milford capitalised on a Paul Gallen ‘falcon’ to put some space between the
sides.
Cronulla without Barba and Ennis failed to
impress in their first run, while Wayne Bennett surely has the makings of
another great Broncos side under his charge.
Cronulla-Sutherland 18 (Beale,
Maloney, Leutele tries; Maloney 3/3 convs.) – Brisbane
26 (Kahu, Roberts, Oates, Milford tries; Kahu 4/4 convs.; Kahu 1/1 pens.)
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