Sharks hold off Cowboys to punch prelim ticket
Cronulla will face Penrith in next week’s preliminary final having downed the Cowboys 26-18 at Allianz Stadium on Friday night.
Braydon Trindall helped propel the Sharks to a blistering start with the No.6 securing an early penalty before Cameron McInnes got on the board to make it a double-digit lead.
Trindall grabbed a second a half-hour in before Ronaldo Mulitalo crossed prior to the break to make it 24-0.
Valentine Holmes scored in the opening set of the second half to get the Cows on the board before Reuben Cotter joined him on the scoresheet with 25 minutes to play.
A Nicho Hynes penalty goal put the Sharks ahead by 14 with Holmes’ second unable to spark any more of a fightback.
Trindall scored two, assisted on another, and ran for 106 metres whilst Mulitalo scored a try and ran for 195 metres.
Holmes scored two and ran for 156 metres with eight tackle breaks whilst Sam McIntyre ran for 127 metres and made 31 tackles off the bench.
Roosters too strong for Manly at Allianz
The Roosters will meet the Storm in a week’s time for a shot at a Grand Final having handled Manly 40-16 at Allianz on Saturday.
Tries to Victor Radley, James Tedesco, and Sandon Smith saw the Tricolours jump out to a 20-0 lead before a Haumole Olakau’atu try gave the Sea Eagles some hope just short of the half.
Quick tries to Daniel Tupou and Tedesco dashed any hopes of a Manly fightback despite Tommy Talau and Ben Trbojevic crossing in the second forty.
Tedesco scored two tries, assisted on two others, and ran for a game-high 226 metres whilst Tupou scored a try, assisted on another, and ran for 142 metres.
Tom Trbojevic ran for 207 metres with five tackle breaks and a line break whilst Luke Brooks assisted on a try and ran for 125 metres.
