The temperature might have been cold but the Cronulla Sharks were red hot in downing St George Illawarra 28-8 at Remondis Stadium.
On a chilly Sunday afternoon in the shire, Cronulla were far too good for a depleted Dragons team, running out 20-point winners to take back the Monty Porter Cup.
The Dragons were without halfback Benji Marshall with a hamstring strain while star fullback Josh Dugan was rested.
Joel Thompson was absent with a hamstring problem, while the visitors were also without Trent Merrin who was suspended.
Cronulla welcomed back captain Paul Gallen, who had not played for the Sharks since their win over the Roosters a month ago, while Michael Ennis also backed up after Wednesday night's State of Origin decider.
Cronulla started well as winger Sosaia Feki gave the hosts the lead inside three minutes.
A sharp second-man play saw Jeff Robson find Wade Graham who delivered a perfect cut out pass to Feki to score in the corner.
The Dragons were disjointed in attack and struggled to get into the game early on.
The Sharks extended their lead after 25 minutes when Luke Lewis celebrated his 250th NRL game in fine style as he crashed over to score.
Two minutes later, Cronulla were in again.
An enterprising set of six ended with a slick shift to the right for Valentine Holmes to touch down in the corner.
Michael Gordon converted from the sideline to give Cronulla a deserved 16-0 lead.
It wasn't until the final stages of the first half when St George Illawarra finally came into the contest.
Charly Runciman reduced the deficit as he dived over in the corner 30 seconds before half-time for the first try of his double.
The Dragons were much improved in the second half and enjoyed the bulk of possession and field position but struggled to break down a resilient Cronulla defensive line without the touch of Marshall.
The Sharks sealed victory when Andrew Fifita got on the end of a deft Ennis grubber kick to score under the posts with 13 minutes to go.
Ben Barba scored two minutes later to rub salt into the depleted Dragons wounds.
See Tuesday's Leader for more reaction to the derby.
Leader Scoreboard
Cronulla Sharks 28 (S Feki, L Lewis, V Holmes, A Fifita, B Barba tries. M Gordon 2, V Holmes 2 goals) defeated.
St George Illawarra Dragons 8 (C Runciman 2 tries)
At Remondis Stadium
Crowd: 12,792.
Leader man of the match: Michael Ennis
