Miserly Melbourne inflict major misery on Cronulla

The Advertiser

a day ago

Melbourne have dumped Cronulla out of the NRL top eight with a gritty 30-6 victory but Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon wasn't fazed by the ladder fall.
The Storm maintained their unbeaten home record this season as the two teams' spicy rivalry continued in their Sunday afternoon match at AAMI Park.
The scoreline was 12-6 until the 64th minute when centre Nick Meaney crossed for the home side's third try after some brilliant lead-up work by back-rower Eli Katoa and Jahrome Hughes.
The home side then kicked away, scoring another two tries to bank a commanding win and send the Sharks tumbling from sixth to 10th on the ladder.
After his side gave up a 28-12 second-half lead to crash to Brisbane last round, Fitzgibbon wasn't happy to lose to Melbourne but was satisfied with his players' effort.
"The scoreline looks like we just got dusted pretty hard and we can't hide from that and we won't," the coach said.
"We wanted to see some spirit ... that was the most pleasing part in a disappointing loss.
"We conceded tries from execution or attention to detail, not from not turning up; so a big difference.
"Scoreline still hurts, but it's a big difference."
Katoa and Hughes combined for three of Melbourne's tries, with the Tongan international scoring the opener after running through a hole off a perfect pass from his halfback.
Sua Fa'alogo then had the 21,000-strong crowd on their feet when Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes attempted to bat a ball on that landed in the arms of the exciting young winger.
The 22-year-old pocket rocket sprinted 90 metres downfield, outpacing Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy to score.
However, in the dying minutes of the match Fa'alogo appearing to suffer a hamstring injury when he was clipped while making another 50-metre dash.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he wasn't sure of the severity of the issue, with his livewire player still "doing a jig" in the sheds as he sang the team song post match.
"We're hoping it's a cramp, but it looked a little bit worse than that when he actually buckled out there," Bellamy said.
"We'll get a scan tomorrow and see where he's at."
While Fa'alogo was a constant attacking threat, he let a Hughes bomb bounce over his head and into the arms of Braydon Trindall, who dived over the line for the Sharks' sole try late in the first half.
Some poor discipline, silly errors and a touch of bad luck then started to take a toll on the Sharks, and the ruthless Storm made them pay.
Katoa twice out-leapt Kennedy to set up tries for Meaney and Hughes, before Queensland Origin forward Trent Loiero iced the win with a try.
Bellamy agreed the scoreline flattered his team but was satisfied with the performance.
"I'm really happy with how we played and the way we went about our work today," he said.
"The score flattered us a little bit, but I thought our defence today was outstanding and that's one thing that really pleased me."
Melbourne have dumped Cronulla out of the NRL top eight with a gritty 30-6 victory but Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon wasn't fazed by the ladder fall.
The Storm maintained their unbeaten home record this season as the two teams' spicy rivalry continued in their Sunday afternoon match at AAMI Park.
The scoreline was 12-6 until the 64th minute when centre Nick Meaney crossed for the home side's third try after some brilliant lead-up work by back-rower Eli Katoa and Jahrome Hughes.
The home side then kicked away, scoring another two tries to bank a commanding win and send the Sharks tumbling from sixth to 10th on the ladder.
After his side gave up a 28-12 second-half lead to crash to Brisbane last round, Fitzgibbon wasn't happy to lose to Melbourne but was satisfied with his players' effort.
"The scoreline looks like we just got dusted pretty hard and we can't hide from that and we won't," the coach said.
"We wanted to see some spirit ... that was the most pleasing part in a disappointing loss.
"We conceded tries from execution or attention to detail, not from not turning up; so a big difference.
"Scoreline still hurts, but it's a big difference."
Katoa and Hughes combined for three of Melbourne's tries, with the Tongan international scoring the opener after running through a hole off a perfect pass from his halfback.
Sua Fa'alogo then had the 21,000-strong crowd on their feet when Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes attempted to bat a ball on that landed in the arms of the exciting young winger.
The 22-year-old pocket rocket sprinted 90 metres downfield, outpacing Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy to score.
However, in the dying minutes of the match Fa'alogo appearing to suffer a hamstring injury when he was clipped while making another 50-metre dash.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he wasn't sure of the severity of the issue, with his livewire player still "doing a jig" in the sheds as he sang the team song post match.
"We're hoping it's a cramp, but it looked a little bit worse than that when he actually buckled out there," Bellamy said.
"We'll get a scan tomorrow and see where he's at."
While Fa'alogo was a constant attacking threat, he let a Hughes bomb bounce over his head and into the arms of Braydon Trindall, who dived over the line for the Sharks' sole try late in the first half.
Some poor discipline, silly errors and a touch of bad luck then started to take a toll on the Sharks, and the ruthless Storm made them pay.
Katoa twice out-leapt Kennedy to set up tries for Meaney and Hughes, before Queensland Origin forward Trent Loiero iced the win with a try.
Bellamy agreed the scoreline flattered his team but was satisfied with the performance.
"I'm really happy with how we played and the way we went about our work today," he said.
"The score flattered us a little bit, but I thought our defence today was outstanding and that's one thing that really pleased me."
Melbourne have dumped Cronulla out of the NRL top eight with a gritty 30-6 victory but Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon wasn't fazed by the ladder fall.
The Storm maintained their unbeaten home record this season as the two teams' spicy rivalry continued in their Sunday afternoon match at AAMI Park.
The scoreline was 12-6 until the 64th minute when centre Nick Meaney crossed for the home side's third try after some brilliant lead-up work by back-rower Eli Katoa and Jahrome Hughes.
The home side then kicked away, scoring another two tries to bank a commanding win and send the Sharks tumbling from sixth to 10th on the ladder.
After his side gave up a 28-12 second-half lead to crash to Brisbane last round, Fitzgibbon wasn't happy to lose to Melbourne but was satisfied with his players' effort.
"The scoreline looks like we just got dusted pretty hard and we can't hide from that and we won't," the coach said.
"We wanted to see some spirit ... that was the most pleasing part in a disappointing loss.
"We conceded tries from execution or attention to detail, not from not turning up; so a big difference.
"Scoreline still hurts, but it's a big difference."
Katoa and Hughes combined for three of Melbourne's tries, with the Tongan international scoring the opener after running through a hole off a perfect pass from his halfback.
Sua Fa'alogo then had the 21,000-strong crowd on their feet when Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes attempted to bat a ball on that landed in the arms of the exciting young winger.
The 22-year-old pocket rocket sprinted 90 metres downfield, outpacing Cronulla fullback Will Kennedy to score.
However, in the dying minutes of the match Fa'alogo appearing to suffer a hamstring injury when he was clipped while making another 50-metre dash.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy said he wasn't sure of the severity of the issue, with his livewire player still "doing a jig" in the sheds as he sang the team song post match.
"We're hoping it's a cramp, but it looked a little bit worse than that when he actually buckled out there," Bellamy said.
"We'll get a scan tomorrow and see where he's at."
While Fa'alogo was a constant attacking threat, he let a Hughes bomb bounce over his head and into the arms of Braydon Trindall, who dived over the line for the Sharks' sole try late in the first half.
Some poor discipline, silly errors and a touch of bad luck then started to take a toll on the Sharks, and the ruthless Storm made them pay.
Katoa twice out-leapt Kennedy to set up tries for Meaney and Hughes, before Queensland Origin forward Trent Loiero iced the win with a try.
Bellamy agreed the scoreline flattered his team but was satisfied with the performance.
"I'm really happy with how we played and the way we went about our work today," he said.
"The score flattered us a little bit, but I thought our defence today was outstanding and that's one thing that really pleased me."