A week after beating the Melbourne Storm when missing Nicho Hynes, the Sharks surged further ahead at the top of the ladder with a pulsating 38-30 win over the Roosters, further underlining their title credentials in a Magic Round epic on Saturday night.
It’s true competitions aren’t won in May – even if fans want to drink in Brisbane like they’ve won a title – but the early months can leave clues about how a team will finish the season. On that score, the Sharks won’t be bombing out of the finals like they’ve done in the last two years.
In an 11-try epic, in which momentum swung wildly, the Sharks reeled in a half-time deficit to notch their ninth win of the season. They’ve lost one game … to the Tigers. If you hadn’t seen it, you wouldn’t believe it.
Which was much like this game. Two coaches, Craig Fitzgibbon and Trent Robinson, who have built their careers around teams scrapping for every inch and protecting their try line like their lives depended on it, would have been aghast at 68 points being scored. But that belied the breakneck speed of the game, brutality of some of the hits and freakish attacking skill.
Then there was fatigue. Hynes, the last man standing when it comes to NSW’s No.7 jersey, pulled up with a sore calf after a week in which few knew if he would play. He got through it, so did Michael Maguire’s heart rate, and by throwing the final pass for Tom Hazelton’s late try, he just has to finish another 80 minutes to be donned in sky blue. Statement made, in more ways than one.
