Tigers roar to sink Sharks
Cronulla’s nightmare week has continued after bombing a second-half lead to fall 28-16 to Wests Tigers at Bankwest Stadium.
The league was rocked this week when Sharks youngster Bronson Xerri was provisionally stood down for testing positive to performance-enhancing drugs.
But their campaign took a dark turn after being held scoreless in the second 40min last night to leave them without a win from their opening three games.
Compounding the pain for coach John Morris is a suspected hamstring injury to halfback Chad Townsend.
Cronulla appeared on their way to overcoming a dramatic week when they surged to a 16-10 halftime lead off the back of two Josh Dugan tries .
A Luke Garner try and Benji Marshall penalty goal levelled the scores with 20min to go, before the Sharks fell behind on a horror defensive play.
Tigers winger David Nofoaluma retrieved a routine line dropout on the 40-metre line before waltzing through shoddy tackle efforts from Townsend and Dugan to score.
Townsend limped from the field soon after.
Tigers prop Josh Aloiai sealed their second victory of the season when he barged over from close range in the 70th minute.
The Sharks got off to a slow start without their speed merchant in Xerri, conceding two tries inside the opening seven minutes.
First it was loan signing Harry Grant crossing for the first try of his career, before Robert Jennings was the recipient of a successful captain’s challenge.
The referee incorrectly ruled last tackle, giving the Tigers one more play to bomb for Jennings to give his team a commanding two-try lead.
The Sharks got back on track primarily through star-studded left edge, where skipper Wade Graham set up back-to-back tries for Dugan.
His second levelled the scores in the 19th minute, before a Will Kennedy four-pointer gave Cronulla a six-point advantage.