SAD NEWS: Keenan Palasia has been fired from the team of brinsbane broncos due to……..Read More..
A barnstorming 19-minute stint from interchange prop Royce Hunt inspired the Sharks to a stunning 22-12 triumph against the Broncos that reinforced their premiership credentials.
Hunt came off the bench just before halftime with his side trailing 12-4 and lifted his team with a number of charging runs and bone-rattling tackles that forced errors as Cronulla took charge after the interval.
The Samoan international ran 78 metres with five carries of the ball and produced six tackle breaks before returning for another five-minute stint at the end of the game.
The dominant second half performance, in which the Sharks scored an unanswered 22 points, was the response coach Craig Fitzgibbon was looking for after a 42-0 loss to Penrith and 34-22 defeat by Parramatta.
The win was even more impressive given that Cronulla were without NSW halfback Nicho Hynes, who was rested due to a nagging calf injury.
Sharks captain Cameron McInnes produced his usual high work-rate after backing up from Origin, while centre Jesse Ramien and utility Siosifa Talakai pressed their claims to join him in the Blues side for Origin II.
Cronulla remain in second place while the Broncos could drop out of the top eight if Manly beat Penrith on Sunday and Canterbury down Parramatta on Monday after surrendering halftime leads in back-to-back losses to the Titans and Sharks
Kotoni Staggs began his audition for a NSW Origin recall in impressive fashion when he accepted an offload from Jordan Riki and raced into the clear.
With Staggs producing a quick play the ball, Broncos hooker Billy Walters raced out of dummy half and ran 30 metres before passing to Pat Carrigan for his third NRL try and just the first of the season in the 12th minute.
