August 27, 1994: 14,012 onlookers at the then-Caltex Field were treated to what now stands as the Sharks’ biggest ever win over the Rabbitohs.
In a lop-sided affair, Cronulla piled on eight tries, with club immortal Andrew Ettingshausen collecting five of his own.
Sensationally though, Ettingshausen had already achieved the five-try feat once before in his career – significantly that also occurred on August 27th – against the Illawarra Steelers in 1989.
The effort against the Rabbitohs capped a remarkable 1994 for ‘ET’ – he scored 18 tries from as many appearances – before being named the Dally M Centre of the Year at the season’s end.
The 42-point shutout of the Rabbitohs was unfortunately too little too late for the 1994 Sharks who came up just short in their bid for a semi-final berth, with the team finishing seventh, one point out of what was then a six-team finals series.
With John Lang as their coach, the Sharks of 1994 won 12 of 22 games, with the Bulldogs finishing as Minor Premiers before being beaten in the Grand Final by the Canberra Raiders.
Not surprisingly Ettingshausen was the clubs leading try scorer with his 18 four-pointers, with New Zealand international Richie Barnett next best with 12.
Eion Crossan, the Sharks goal-kicking winger was the leading pointscorer in 1994 with 154 points, coming from 61 goals and eight tries.
1994 also saw the emergence of David Peachey, who played five games in his debut season in the top grade, with Robbie Kearns, a future NSW and Australian representative and current Cowboys coach Paul Green also members of the Sharks side.
Cronulla Sharks 42 [TRIES: Andrew Ettingshausen (5), Geoff Bell, Mitch Healey, Nathan Long. [GOALS] Mitch Healey (3/5), Eion Crossan (2/2)]
Def.
South Sydney 0.
