Varying fortunes for junior Sharks in Round 8

While Cronulla's Lisa Fiaola and Tarsha Gale teams were beaten by the Knights, the Harold Matthews and SG Ball Sharks enjoyed Round 8 success with a win and remarkable draw against the Warriors.

With both women's sides heading to Cessnock on Saturday in search of three straight victories, Lisa Fiaola lost 22-0 and Tarsha Gale went down 36-14.

Across the ditch in Pukekohe on Sunday, the Harold Matthews piled on seven tries in a 40-10 victory that has likely sealed a finals spot heading into the last round.

The SG Ball troops produced an amazing second-half comeback after trailing 26-6 to finish with a 30-all draw on the back of five straight tries.

On 11 points, the eighth-placed under-19 men can still qualify for the playoffs if they beat the table-topping Roosters this weekend and other results go their way.

Lisa Fiaola coach Robbie Taylor lamented his team's error count but, reflecting on the season as a whole, commended their progress.

"We probably handed the ball away too much. We could've been better, lost a little bit of energy, but I always go back to they're still learning," Taylor said.

"Defensively, we're quite strong. It's if we get scored against, the girls tend to drop their heads a bit … But we're trying, the girls are putting everything into it. They're coming off the field completely exhausted which means they've done their job."

Meanwhile, Tarsha Gale coach Isaac Michael pinpointed a slow start to the second half as the downfall for his under-19 team. It's an area they'll need to address quickly having already booked a spot in the finals.

"Reasonably happy with the first half," Michael said.

"The opposition started fast, they got a couple of quick tries, but we wrestled our way back, getting that momentum through the middle of the field.

"Then when we had the footy we looked good enough and got a couple of tries. At 14-10 at halftime I thought we were in a good space, feeling good, but again just the second half we just seem to consistently miss the start.

"When a team like the Knights, they're playing really good footy... They just took the game away from us at the end of the day."