Carney gives Sharks more bite

IN the world of sport, winning fixes everything.

It is certainly proving true, at least for now, for a Cronulla NRL outfit that looked set to crumble under the pressure of an ASADA investigation.

That has slowed in recent weeks following stand-in captain Wade Graham’s aborted interview with ASADA officials.

Since that day, the Sharks have won three consecutive matches, including a tense 30-20 victory over Canberra yesterday.

‘‘Ever since the [Wade Gra- ham interview] we put it all aside and we’ve brushed it completely,’’ prop Andrew Fifita said.

‘‘And it’s been good for us. Ever since then we’ve been winning.

‘‘At the start of the year we knew we had a fair team here and could go a long way in this comp and I really think we can.’’

The win, piloted by NSW Origin hopefuls Fifita and Todd Carney, lifts the Sharks into the top eight for the first time since round 5.

It was another match in which the Sharks had to hold on for victory, weathering a strong Raiders comeback sparked by a double to utility Anthony Milford.

No matter what, winning solves a lot of problems

The two points were only secure after Fifita crashed over for a 70th minute try.

Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan gave up on talking about the ASADA investi- gation weeks ago, choosing to focus his energies on his team.

That mindset did not change after the Sharks’ third-straight victory, but Flanagan’s demeanour certainly has.

‘‘Winning footy games is really important,’’ he said.

‘‘It makes it easy to go to work on the Monday.

‘‘No matter what, winning solves a lot of those problems. That’s where we rate ourselves as – a top eight team.’’

The Raiders were beaten physically in the forwards by a Cronulla pack missing Paul Gallen and Luke Lewis.

And the visitors suffered further setbacks through first half injuries to Josh McCrone (side strain) and Shaun Fensom (eye).

That, in addition to a controversial opening try to Sharks centre Jonathan Wright, meant the home side was always in control.

Also yesterday, Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett praised his team for their performance against Canterbury as the Knights ended a poor run with a 44-8 victory.

Two tries from Kevin Naiqama and efforts from James McManus, Joseph Leilua, Darius Boyd and Kurt Gidley sealed an impressive win.