It was all about the 'baby Sharks' on Saturday night, with our young halves pairing of Connor Tracey and Braydon Trindall working brilliantly together to steer the side to a convincing 28-12 victory over the Cowboys.
Brought into the squad with special dispensation from the NRL, Trindall had a hand in three of the Sharks five tries, while kicking four goals from five attempts, in a silky display that included two linebreak assists and a try assist.
Tracey capping off his strong performance with a late try, showcasing his raw speed throughout the match to finish with 70 run metres and 22 tackles.
Match Highlights: Sharks v Cowboys
Briton Nikora was back to running his trademark lines after some time on the sidelines, crossing the try line off a Trindall short -ball early in the first half.
Nikora finished the 80 minutes with 91 metres, two linebreaks, a line break assist and a try assist to go with his try and 25 tackles.
A solid first 40 from Will Kennedy at the back set the tone for the rest of his night. He ended with 162 metres, two try assists, two linebreaks and a linebreak assist. His performances continuing to impress this season.
All of our back five ran for over 100m, with the exception of Ramien who left the field early for a HIA before succumbing to what looked like a nasty eye injury.
Sione Katoa grabbed 160 metres on his way to another ‘sexy’ try in the corner. Josh Dugan took the tough carries to help his side out of trouble, showing his experience and power in a 128 metre display with some solid defence. And Ronaldo Mulitalo clocked 133 metres in another passionate outing.
In the pack Braden Hamlin-Uele (95m) and Aaron Woods (129m) got to work early at the front. The pair combining for a beautiful big man try with Woods popping the short ball for Hamlin-Uele to break the line and cross the stripe.
Scott Sorensen who was elevated to start at lock an hour before kick off was busy in both attack and defence, getting his hands on the ball and making some damaging runs.
Blayke Brailey once again was pivotal in the number nine jersey for the Sharks, a huge 40/20 midway through the first half putting his side in an attacking position where they capitalised with a try.
He was once again rock solid in defence with 35 tackles, and his darting runs from dummy-half split the Cowboys open regularly.
Off the bench, Sifa Talakai put in a monster performance clocking 156 metres with 71 post-contact metres and a try of his own.
Andrew Fifita returned after six-weeks on the sideline and looked strong with his carries. Royce Hunt & Toby Rudolf coming out and doing what they do best in making impactful runs and bruising tackles as well.
You’ve seen the match, watched the highlights and we’ve broken down the stats. So over to you Sharks fans, who deserves the title of our best from Round 16?
Vote now in our fan poll below.
