Cronulla’s bid to become world club champions was ended as the Sharks were well-beaten by Super League champions Wigan.
Wigan ran out 22-6 winners at the DW Stadium on Monday morning [AEDT] as the NRL premiers put in a disjointed performance on the big stage and were left bewildered by a number of refereeing decisions.
Aquinas Colts junior Jayden Brailey made his debut for the Sharks, starting at hooker with Nu Brown named on the bench as Cronulla began life without Michael Ennis. Gerard Beale started at fullback with utility forward Kurt Capewell and youngster Jesse Ramien on the wings with Cronulla without their three top try scorers from last season – Valentine Holmes, Sosaia Feki and Ben Barba.
Within four minutes Wigan had a 4-0 lead. A simple shift left out of dummy half saw former South Sydney winger Joe Burgess score in the corner.
Wigan showed their nerves when five-eighth George Williams dropped the kick off and Cronulla looked as though they had made them pay when Luke Lewis got on the end of a James Maloney kick to score. But it was ruled no try with Ramien shown to be in front of the kicker and encroaching within 10 metres of the contest.
Wigan extended their lead to 10-0 after 23 minutes when Burgess scored his second try, with Jack Bird again getting the numbers wrong in defence – as he did for the first try.
Cronulla looked as though they had narrowed the margin after half an hour when Capewell did brilliantly to fall on a loose ball. Capewell looked to have grounded it just inside the sideline only for the video referee to rule part of the ball touched the line.
The Sharks lacked discipline in the first half and were on the end of a hefty penalty count. They also lacked fluency in attack, rarely threatening Wigan’s line.
Cronulla could have scored early in the second half on the back of a 40m break from Sam Tagataese, only for the short in-goal areas to cost Cronulla with Brown’s grubber beating a despairing Andrew Fifita over the deadball line.
Against the run of play Wigan extended their lead through Oliver Gildart, who again brushed off Bird to score, before Cronulla finally broke their duck on 58 minutes.
A brilliantly deft Beale kick found Ramien out wide for the debutant to score in the corner, with Maloney’s conversion making it 16-6.
But Cronulla rarely challenged thereafter as Wigan defended resolutely and the Sharks continued to make simple errors – Cronulla making 16 handling errors alone in the match.
Burgess completed his hat-trick in the final seconds to seal Wigan’s victory.
The Sharks also appeared frustrated with a number of interpretations from match officials throughout the contest and were on the end of an 11-7 penalty count.
Cronulla will need to re-group quickly for their round one NRL clash. The Sharks land back in Australia on Wednesday, leaving them just over a week to prepare for their season opener against Brisbane at Southern Cross Group Stadium on March 2.