Despite the motivation of Women in League Round and glimpses of danger throughout the match, Cronulla could not overcome a hungry Canterbury Bulldogs outfit, who snatched their first win of the season in the Saturday night clash.
Their spark, led by Chantay Kiria-Ratu, was unfortunately not backed up enough, and poor discipline in both attack and defence gave the hosts too much opportunity to showcase their talent.
A failed HIA to Tegan Dymock also left Cronulla without their lock for the best part of 50 minutes, which proved a huge loss for the black, white and blue.
From the get-go, it was all the home team, and despite coming back from 14-0 to 14-12, the Sharks could not crack a relentless opposition, who ultimately wanted the win more.
Bulldogs v Sharks – Round 3, 2026
Opening the match, the Bulldogs had the energy and were firing, and before long they were able to give themselves a perfect opportunity and get their performance started on the right foot.
A floater kick from Tayla Preston to the right corner saw a knock on from Cronulla and placed the Bulldogs in prime attacking territory.
Two picture-perfect tries in the span of seven minutes gave Canterbury an early lead, with Ashleigh Quinlan and Elizabeth MacGregor combining, the ball landing right in the winger's arms for the first try. Moments later when the Sharks showed danger, an intercept from Bulldog Simina Lokotui to run 55 meters stretched their lead to 10-0.
An attacking opportunity presented itself for the visitors once more though it seems they hadn’t kicked into gear yet as they failed to complete.
It was all blue and white, and stretching their lead out by another four, Lokotui crashed through three defenders for her second.
The comeback was on for Cronulla as a strategic Chantay Kiria-Ratu grubber through the line allowed space to open up for hooker Quincy Dodd to capitalise on a knock on, Kiria-Ratu added the extras, and it was back to an eight-point ballgame.
Once again, it was Kiria-Ratu putting her side on the front foot with a spiraling bomb this time.
Following the Queensland Representatives' own kick effort, a floater ball to Madison Ashby let her showcase the incredible skill she has and fooling the whole crowd, sliced through the defence and passed to Cassie Staples. Cronulla now had another four-pointer.
Two tries were all it needed for the away side to click into gear, and now only trailing by one goal, there was a reignited fire in the bellies.
It wasn’t the ideal start after the break for Cronulla, making an error in their first set, however they made up for the error with a few strong defensive efforts.
In the 39th minute, luck proved to be on Lokotui’s side as she snagged a hat trick thanks to a flawless ball from Andie Robinson.
For the following 20 minutes, it was an arm-wrestle, with neither side giving room to the opponent and momentum swinging both ways, but suddenly getting their fifth of the evening, Monica Tagoai wrestled her way to the ground, just managing to slam the ball down. The score was now 24-12.
The final 15 minutes were once more a tug of war, and each team displayed poor discipline, but desperate defence pulled through.
In a final plea with less than two to play, Georgia Hannaway ran the ball, offloading to Jaydika Tafua, who kept the game alive. Hannaway converted, and the Sharks now had one final set to get the job done, though the siren sounded and the final score was 24-18.
The Sharks now travel to Canberra next week to take on the Raiders in the nation's capital.
