What has been a disastrous season thus far continues to go to form for Cronulla Sharks after they were beaten 26-4 by St George Illawarra Dragons at Toyota Stadium on Saturday.
The defeat is Cronulla’s ninth on the spin as they were once again blown away by the opposition, 15,201 fans turning out on a freezing night to get only cold comfort as their opponents rose to fourth in the NRL ladder and left them frozen out at the foot.
Brett Morris was the star man for The Dragons as he claimed three tries, the majority of the action saved for the second half after a slow start. Indeed, the home side actually had the better of play in the first period but consistently failed to finish off moves, Luke Pomeroy dropping several passes to leave them feeling that yet again it was not going to be their night.
That thought will have kicked into them as early as the fourth minute in truth when Morris scored the first of his tries. It was unconverted, but the visitors’ 4-0 lead at the break was soon to get much bigger.
Nine minutes after the restart, Dragons captain Jamie Soward sent Ben Hornby scored the first of his two tries to leave The Sharks in deep water. There was some debate that Soward’s pass was forward but only to deaf ears and The Dragons were now well on their way.
Reece Williams was then deemed to have aimed a punch at Soward, with the resulting penalty leading to Morris running over for his second.
Matt Cooper played a key role in Morris’ second try and it was the same duo that combined for the winger’s treble, with Soward kicking off a move that went through the centre and into the path of the young man, who crossed the line.
Hornby then made it five tries for St George Illawarra, the captain collecting Dean Young’s pass before going over. Soward hit his third successful conversion for 26-0.
Blake Ferguson scored a late consolation try for Cronulla in the corner, but by that stage the home fans had emptied out and a ninth loss in a row for their side was already being transcribed in the record books.