- NRL GRAND FINAL
Desperate Sharks end decades of agony in epic NRL grand final heart-stopper
AT last.
In a sentence few thought they would ever see, Cronulla are the NRL champions following a gusty 14-12 victory over Melbourne last night.
In a match that hung in the balance, a late Andrew Fifita try under the posts gave the ANZ Stadium crowd of 83,625 something to shout about.
“Three weeks ago I was in hospital and could barely walk, and watched as these guys beat Canberra,” Sharks skipper Paul Gallen said.
“I was crying in the lounge I was so proud of them.
“They did it again tonight — they are the best blokes and I’m so proud of them.
“I can believe it because of the hard work we put in — it’s just so awesome.”
Ben Barba handed the Sharks the edge in a first-half dominated by the Sydney club.
The Storm, however, found a way to respond in the second stanza and hit the lead through a Will Chambers try in the 64th minute.
Yet a contentious penalty for a high shot gifted Cronulla a set of six in front of the sticks, leading to prop Fifita crashing over to all but end the club’s 50-year wait for a crown.
There was still time for one last roll of the dice by the Storm in the game’s final play, but desperate defence held on.
“I was thinking ‘how about someone make a tackle?’,” coach Shane Flanagan said. “What about that set?” Sharks veteran Luke Lewis was named Clive Churchill Medal winner after the match.
BEN Hampton, regardless of the result last night, is now in the club.
It’s one growing by the year, responding to the swell of Far North talent now reaching proportions which, in the best way possible, is no longer surprising.
The one-off NRL grand final appearances of Cairns product Gavin Allen in 1992, or David Westley’s 1994 Canberra premiership, are a hark back to when the region’s talent hit the same, dirt-beaten country hurdles.
Call it the Cowboys influence, but since 2002 NRL’s night of nights more often than not has had a Far North flavour.
The ceiling faced by Allen and those of previous eras, it is clear, is gone.
Justin Hodges, the trashtalking Cairns kid who moved like a dancer, became so accustomed to grand finals his 2015 swan song with the Broncos was the story of the week.
Innisfail’s Billy Slater, deemed too small by most scouts as a teen, owns a place among grand final giants.
Hampton is now a member of the club that as much celebrates the busting of barriers as of tackles.
It all started in junior footy in the Far North.
“Playing in Mareeba was really good,’’ he told the
Cairns Post. ‘‘We had a great junior team and a lot of good players.
“I think we won the under-15 and under-16 grand finals because we had such a great team.
“We were all basically just mates playing footy together and I was even lucky enough to play Agrade there.
“I think I was 16 playing against men and that really got me ready to play against big blokes.”
Nothing outlines the region’s development as a genuine top tier league producer as much as the fact Hampton, the kid from Mareeba, shared the field with NRL greats on the code’s biggest day.
And it’s no longer an anomaly.