Round 9
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 d. Brisbane Broncos 8

2007 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Sharks too good in battle with Broncos
Sat May 12, 2007
Source: www.sharks.com.au

Despite giving up eight points in the first eight minutes, the Sharks have regrouped and gone on to record an impressive 16-8 victory over the reigning premiers the Brisbane Broncos.

Backing up from a gruelling recent schedule of matches, for the final 70-minutes of the contest the Sharks repelled everything the Brisbane side could throw at them, grinding out a win which gives their premiership challenge some credibility.

The Sharks had a host of outstanding performers, but it was the unlikely duo of Luke Covell and Misi Taulapapa who were receiving the majority of the accolades after the win.

Taulapapa worked non-stop from the wing and then from fullback was deputising for Brett Kearney who was forced from the field with a quadriceps injury, with Covell as safe as a bank while also relieving the pressure with numerous clever charges out of dummy half.

Origin hopefuls Paul Gallen, Greg Bird, Brett Kimmorley and Ben Ross all pushed their claims with solid outings, with Gallen rewarded with the television man of the match award.

In fact it was the Bird-Gallen combination which sealed the win for the Sharks, with Gallen making a line break down the right hand side of the field and Bird backing up the break to score the try which put the Sharks eight points in front.

Coach Ricky Stuart was understandably pleased by the Sharks performance, especially coming on the back of two tough road trips to Newcastle and New Zealand.

"You need consistency in this competition and with the way we've played the last two weeks we're starting to get that," he said.

It was a sluggish start for the Sharks when on the back of a penalty on half way the Broncos mounted their first attacking raid of the night, eventuating in a well worked move for winger Steve Michaels to score. Lockyer was off target with the conversion attempt but almost before the fans had found their seats the visitors had jumped ahead by 4-0.

The Sharks put themselves under more pressure with an error from the usually reliable Lance Thompson, with Brisbane again exploiting the right hand defence of the Sharks, veteran Tonie Carroll crossing wide out. Lockyer was wide again with his kick for goal and after less than 10-minutes the Broncos had an 8-0 lead.

After some good second phase play from Gallen and Bird, then a line break from Stapleton, the Sharks had the Broncos on the back foot, spinning the ball wide to a flying Fraser Anderson, with the ex-Bronco doing extremely well to plant the ball over the line for a try despite the attention of two or three defenders.

Luke Covell was straight and true with his conversion attempt and the Sharks were back in business at 8-6 behind.

While both sides had opportunities to gain the ascendency, neither managed to achieve it, with a Covell penalty goal the only other scoring play on the first half.

The second half began well for the Sharks when in just the fifth minute Brett Kearney made a dash out of dummy half, running 50-metres before being collared by the cover defence. In the ensuing play the ball, with the Broncos struggling to get back on side, the Sharks were denied a try but a penalty to the home side saw Covell give his team their first lead of the night at 10-8.

The Sharks continued to pressure a tiring Brisbane forward pack and after squandering a couple of chances they made no mistake in the 55th minute. A quick exchange of passes saw Gallen one-on-one with David Stagg, with the State of Origin candidate pushing aside his opponent before streaking downfield. He found Kevin Kingston in support, with Bird receiving the last pass before running the final 20-metre to score untouched.

Covell added the extras and at 16-8 the Sharks had built a handy eight-point lead.

Brisbane's problems were compounded even further when in the 57th minute their star pivot and Australian captain Darren Lockyer hobbled off with an ankle injury. Lockyer was injured when he twisted awkwardly in a Bird tackle.

Neither side was able to trouble the scorers in the final 20-minutes, with the Sharks prevailing to consolidate their place inside the top eight.

In the earlier match the Premier League Sharks were forced to fight to all the way to the finish before recording their fifth win in a row with a 28-16 victory over the Wests Magpies.

www.sharks.com.au

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