Sharks v Titans - Tickets on sale NOW!
1. Fullbacks deliver on pre-game promise
The talk pre-game was all about Ben Barba and James Tedesco – and so often when two players are the focus, the performance doesn’t match the hype.
Thankfully for both Sharks and Tigers supporters yesterday, and the neutral too, Barba and Tedesco turned it on.
Tedesco caused havoc for the Sharks defence, while Barba got a try back late in the game to all-but seal the win.
2. Gallen’s knee holds up
Sharks skipper Paul Gallen showed no ill-effects of his knee injury, returning to the fold in emphatic fashion to boot.
Gallen ran for more than 160 metres, racked up 20 tackles, before being rewarded with a rare four-pointer.
Gallen showed plenty of passion after touching down – his pride for the Cronulla jersey well and truly on show, as he went about silencing the critics in a trademark style.
3. Andrew Fifita was again at his damaging best.
15 carries, 178 metres, two offloads and seven tackle busts – Andrew Fifita continued his recent run of good form with another huge effort against his former club.
In lieu of his brother’s presence, Fifita did the job of two men, and again threw his hand up for Origin selection.
4. Feki shows his finishing wares with tip-toeing sideline effort
Sosaia Feki proved he can finish a back-line move just as well as he can find metres from dummy half, in scoring a centimetre-perfect try to kick start the Sharks in the second half.
Feki also had a decisive last-touch assist in Barba’s try, which well and truly iced the result for the visitors.
5. Sharks right side show promise ahead of Titans challenge.
Brisbane had great success through James Roberts and Ben Hunt against the Gold Coast Titans’ left-edge defence on Friday night, with the Sharks set to ask plenty of questions of those men again next week through Townsend, Lewis, Bird and Holmes.
Lewis/Bird/Holmes ran for a combined 400m+ against the Tigers, and you can be assured the trio will be seeing plenty of the ball again next weekend when back at home.
