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Fri March 20 2009, 7:30PM AEDT GMT+11Fri: South Sydney Rabbitohs 8 l. Parramatta Eels 14 at
ANZ Stadium (Sydney), Homebush Bay, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 20,871
Fri March 20 2009, 7:30PM AEST GMT+10Fri: Brisbane Broncos 16 d. Melbourne Storm 14 at
Suncorp Stadium, Castlemaine Street, Milton, Brisbane (QLD)Crowd: 36,647
Sat March 21 2009, 5:30PM AEDT GMT+11Sat: St George Illawarra Dragons 16 d. Gold Coast Titans 10 at
WIN Stadium, Wollongong (NSW)Crowd: 13,329
Sat March 21 2009, 7:30PM AEDT GMT+11Sat: Penrith Panthers 26 l. Bulldogs 28 at
Penrith Stadium, Mulgoa Road, Penrith, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 16,846
Sat March 21 2009, 8:30PM AEST GMT+10Sat: North Queensland Cowboys 42 d. Wests Tigers 14 at
Dairy Farmers Stadium, Kirwan, Townsville (QLD)Crowd: 19,879
Sun March 22 2009, 2:00PM AEDT GMT+11Sun: Canberra Raiders 4 l. Sydney Roosters 28 at
Canberra Stadium, Bruce, Canberra (ACT)Crowd: 13,100
Sun March 22 2009, 3:00PM AEDT GMT+11Sun: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 24 l. New Zealand Warriors 26 at
Brookvale Oval, Brookvale, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 16,307
Mon March 23 2009, 7:00PM AEDT GMT+11Mon: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 12 l. Newcastle Knights 24 at
Toyota Park, Woolooware, Sydney (NSW)Crowd: 11,148
Tue March 24, 2009
Source: NRL Stats: Sharks 12 v Knights 24Newcastle had to overcome injuries to Steve Simpson, Jarrod Mullen and Cameron Ciraldo to defeat Cronulla 24-12 in a fantastic away victory.
The Knights were up against the eight-ball trailing 6-0 and having to deal with losing Simpson and Mullen early in the match. The turning point came when Misi Taulapapa narrowly missed out on scoring a try due to desperate Newcastle and the Knights followed that up with two tries in five minutes to lead 12-6.
Two tries in three minutes after half-time extended Newcastle's lead to 24-6 and a try to Blake Green in the 51st minute threatened to bring the Sharks back into the match.
In a remarkable statistic five players each made 16 runs, which was equal top for the match including the respective captains Kurt Gidley and Paul Gallen. Yet none of those five players made the most metres with Sharks centre Blake Ferguson making 114m from 15 runs.
Former Sharks hooker Isaac De Gois topped the tackle count with 36 and generally won the battle against his opposite number Corey Hughes.
CRONULLA-SUTHERLAND SHARKSPositive: There's always next week.
Negative: Struggled to score points on home soil against a Newcastle side that was reduced to 15 players in the first half and 14 players shortly after half-time.
Verdict: The Sharks won't be amongst the top sides until they learn how to put more tries on the board. Perhaps Ricky Stuart should look at using players from the undefeated NYC side.
NEWCASTLE KNIGHTSPositive: Winning against the odds away from home with a depleted side. The guts and courage shown by the Knights was absolutely outstanding and supporters should be proud of them.
Negative: Any possible injuries to Simpson and Mullen. Both are key players for the Knights. New signing Ciraldo will also be a big loss.
Verdict: Will be competitive throughout the year and seems to be like a side that brings the best out of Brian Smith as a coach.
THE QUESTIONWill the Sharks ever win a premiership?
TOP STATSAll Runs Metres: Blake Ferguson 114
All Runs: Kurt Gidley 16, Paul Gallen 16, Zeb Taia 16, Misi Taulapapa 16, Akuila Uate 16
Offloads: Paul Gallen 3
Tackles: Isaac De Gois 36
1-on-1 Tackles: James McManus 4, Luke Douglas 4, Zeb Taia 4, Isaac De Gois 4
Tackle Breaks: Misi Taulapapa 8
Line Breaks: Richard Faaoso 2, Chris Houston 2
Penalties Conceded: Scott Dureau 2, Trent Barrett 2, Luke Douglas 2
Missed Tackles: Reece Williams 5
Kicks: Trent Barrett 10
Gets: Trent Barrett 30
NRL Stats: Sharks 12 v Knights 24
NYC Stats: Sharks 24 v Knights 22
Sharks v Knights Match ThreadMon March 23, 2009
Cronulla's off-season was dogged with controversy and incident and the troubles have continued into the new season. If long-term injuries to fullback Brett Kearney and prop Ben Ross were not bad enough, the suspension of halfback Brett Seymour could not have come at a worse time.
The Sharks' new recruits Trent Barrett and Anthony Tupou were among the team's best in a dour victory over Penrith last Saturday night and clearly they will be relied upon heavily by coach Ricky Stuart this season.
The Sharks have won their last seven matches at Toyota Stadium and their record against the Knights at the ground is impressive.
The Knights wilted in oppressive conditions against the Gold Coast last Sunday but the eight-day break between games should ensure that all players have fully recovered from the experience.
Take a Cronulla goal ($8) or try ($2-15) as First Scoring Play and look to a Sharks win by 1-12 points ($3-10).
Best options for First Tryscorer include Misi Taulapapa ($13), Ben Pomeroy ($13) or Luke Covell ($13) for Cronulla or James McManus ($13), Junior Sau ($15) or Akuila Uate ($11) for Newcastle.
Monday March 23, 2009
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks vs Newcastle Knights at Toyota Park, Woolooware, Sydney (NSW)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks
1 David Simmons, 2 Misi Taulapapa, 3 Ben Pomeroy , 4 Blake Ferguson , 5 Luke Covell , 6 Trent Barrett, 7 Brett Seymour, 8 Kade Snowden, 9 Corey Hughes, 10 Luke Douglas, 11 Reece Williams, 12 Anthony Tupou, 13 Paul Gallen [c]. Subs: 14 Blake Green , 15 Jack Afamasaga, 16 Bryan Norrie, 17 Grant Millington, 20 Jacob Selmes, 21 Mitch Brown (two to be omitted).
Newcastle Knights
1 Kurt Gidley [c], 2 James McManus, 3 Junior Sau, 4 Adam MacDougall, 5 Akuila Uate, 6 Ben Rogers, 7 Jarrod Mullen, 8 Mark Taufua, 9 Isaac De Gois, 10 Ben Cross, 11 Steve Simpson, 12 Cory Paterson, 13 Zeb Taia. Subs: 14 Matt Hilder, 15 Chris Houston, 16 Richie Fa'aoso, 17 Cameron Ciraldo.
Date: Mon March 23 2009, 7:00PM AEDT GMT+11 [Mon March 23 2009, 8:00AM GMT]
Referee: Ben Cummins, Brett Suttor
Predictions:
Matthew O'Neill: Sharks by 4
Adem Kolar: Sharks by 10
Paul Booth: Sharks by 6
OVERALL:
Total Games: 33
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks wins: 14. [Pts: 647]
Newcastle Knights wins: 18. [Pts: 625]
Draws: 1
Biggest wins:
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: 50 pts: 2002 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 22 - [View] Sun Aug 11: Sharks 64 d. Knights 14 [Crowd: 17289]
Newcastle Knights: 44 pts: 2002 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 6 - [View] Fri Apr 19: Knights 52 d. Sharks 8 [Crowd: 26721]
Biggest Crowd: 2001 NRL Telstra Premiership - Preliminary Finals - [View] Sat Sep 22: Knights 18 d. Sharks 10 [Crowd: 31438]
Last 50 games against each other form line (most recent matches at end of line):
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks: DWLLWLLWLWLWLWLLLWLLWLLWLWWWLWLLW
Newcastle Knights: DLWWLWWLWLWLWLWWWLWWLWWLWLLLWLWWL
Last 10 games:
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 19 - [View] Sat: Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 d. Newcastle Knights 13 [Crowd: 10112]
2007 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 7 - [View] Mon: Newcastle Knights 20 d. Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 [Crowd: 15453]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 21 - [View] Fri: Sharks 18 l. Knights 22 [Crowd: 17574]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 16 - [View] Sat: Knights 16 l. Sharks 26 [Crowd: 18212]
2005 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 25 - [View] Sat: Knights 44 d. Sharks 14 [Crowd: 23084]
2005 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 19 - [View] Sun: Sharks 30 d. Knights 26 [Crowd: 14027]
2004 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 17 - [View] Sun Jul 4: Knights 26 l. Sharks 34 [Crowd: 18524]
2003 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 11 - [View] Sat May 24: Knights 24 l. Sharks 30 [Crowd: 16121]
2003 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 6 - [View] Sun Apr 20: Sharks 24 l. Knights 32 [Crowd: 9095]
2002 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 22 - [View] Sun Aug 11: Sharks 64 d. Knights 14 [Crowd: 17289]
Round 2
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 12 l. Newcastle Knights 24
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