FIRST it was the top eight, then the top four — and now it might be that Cronulla’s sights are set on the NRL premiership.
The Sharks fired a warning to the rest of the competition with an impressive 30-18 win over North Queensland on Saturday night.
On a chilly night in the shire, Cronulla scored their eighth win from their past nine games to run out 12-point winners and move equal on points with South Sydney on the NRL table.
Wearing specially designed jerseys to celebrate the NRL’s Indigenous Round, Gerard Beale and Wade Graham scored their first tries of the season as Michael Gordon stole the show with an 80-metre try just after half-time that had Remondis Stadium rocking.
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan said he was most pleased with his team’s defensive effort, with the Cowboys only able to post points through kicks.
‘‘Our defence I thought in patches there was outstanding,’’ he said.
‘‘They were losing metres at different stages with our contact, and so on. They’re, as everyone knows, at the top of the comp not by fluke.
‘‘We defended really well and defended in systems. All their tries came off kicks. [We kept them] to limited line breaks and they didn’t run the ball over our try line too often. It was a great effort.’’
Flanagan, in his 100th game as coach of the club, said his team still had to improve before viewing themselves as one of the competition’s elite.
‘‘I think we’re competing really hard. We’re a tough footy side. I’ve heard it plenty of times this week that we’ll get in the grind but we think we can score some tries as well,’’ he said.
‘‘We’re developing as a team. But we go out there every week thinking we can win.’’
‘‘It’s a great effort by everyone, particularly the players, they’ve got a real lot of belief in them.
‘‘They’re working really hard for each other during the week, and out on the field.’’
Flanagan said he hoped for more of the local support that helped get Cronulla home on Saturday night.
‘‘I thought it was a great crowd [against the Cowboys]. Hopefully the momentum and support will just continue to build,’’ he said.
‘‘We aren’t looking too far ahead, we’ve got another big game next week. There’s a big month ahead of us. Hopefully the crowd gets behind us and our supporters get behind us.
‘‘We’ve got some home games leading into the back end of the season, so it’d be great to fill this week after week,’’ Flanagan said.
SHARKS 30 (Ricky Leutele, Jack Bird, Michael Gordon, Gerard Beale, Wade Graham tries. Gordon five goals) d COWBOYS 18 (Antonio Winterstein, Kane Linnett, Matthew Wright tries. Johnathan Thurston three goals).
Crowd: 13,878; Leader Man of the Match: Michael Gordon.
Sharks’ next three: Storm (home), Tigers (home), Eels (away).
Do you think the Sharks can make it through to the premiership?
