Sharks

Sharks steal late win over Warriors

In a dramatic finish between two top-eight teams, Lee crossed in the left corner in the 78th minute to hand new signing Aaron Woods a win in his Sharks debut.

It capped a disastrous Friday night for the Warriors, who lost forwards Bunty Afoa and Tohu Harris to what appeared to be serious injuries.

The home side seemed to have an 11th victory in their grasp when halfback Shaun Johnson landed a field goal to put his team a point in front off the back of a glaring Lee handling error.

Seven changes to Chiefs lineup

Due to All Blacks commitments Damian McKenzie, Brodie Retallick, Anton Leinert-Brown and Nathan Harris have returned to New Zealand following last week's win over the Stormers in Cape Town.

Add to that the injury toll the chiefs have suffered and they're without a total of 20 players for the match.

In the forwards, Liam Polwart starts at hooker for Harris, Tyler Ardron moves to lock in place of Retallick and Pita Gus Sowakula gets a start in the number eight jersey.

Landers fed to Sharks in Durban

The hosts scored five tries to two in a dominant performance, notching the biggest win in their rivalry and the second-largest over any New Zealand side.

Fullback Curwin Bosch and second five-eighth Andre Esterhuizen led a compelling display on attack for the Sharks, who also strangled the Highlanders at the breakdown.

The home side held sway at scrum time, exacerbated by a Kings Park turf which broke up badly.

Their fourth win from 10 was comfortably their best and lifts the Sharks just inside the top eight with six games to play.

Sharks too good for the Blues

Coming off the bye, the Blues were comprehensively outplayed, with poor tackling and an inability to secure quality ball allowing the Sharks to open out a 26-7 halftime lead.

The Aucklanders hit back in the second spell with three tries in the space of eight minutes but could find no answer to a masterful display from Sharks fly- half Robert du Preez.

The 24-year-old playmaker kicked flawlessly, nailing seven penalties and six conversions as well as scoring a try of his own to total 38 points for the match.

Flanagan: Holmes is Sharks No.1

Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan has confirmed there will be no positional switch in the Telstra Premiership for his talented speedster. 

“The speculation about Val comes because of how good he plays on the wing, not how poorly he plays at fullback,” Flanagan told NRL.com.

Multiple errors proved Warriors' undoing against Sharks

As has been customary for much of 2017, multiple errors and repeated knock-ons on Friday ultimately proved the Warriors' undoing.

Despite another decent showing up front, where the Warriors outran the Sharks with the ball, the defending premiers ran in four tries to two to cement their place in the top four with five regular-season games remaining.

The Warriors are on the precipice and will have to win their last five, which include tough matches against Canberra and Manly to have any chance of a top-eight finish.

Sharks and Roosters claim NRL wins

Defending premiers Cronulla were soundly beaten by Gold Coast Titans last weekend, but responded by seeing off the Bunnies at Southern Cross Group Stadium on Friday.

Wade Graham and Fa'amanu Brown scored first-half tries either side of a Braidon Burns four-pointer, with the returning James Maloney converting both Sharks scores and also landing a penalty to make it 14-6 at the break.

Lions claim top spot

The Lions beat the Sharks 27-10 in Durban this morning to leap frog the Crusaders into the top spot.

The Crusaders unbeaten run this season came to an abrupt end in Wellington last night after being beaten by an under-strength Hurricanes side 31-22.

The Hurricanes turned around a 12-7 half time deficit to record their 12th win of the season, cementing their spot in second on the New Zealand conference.

Lewis re-signs with Sharks

Currently in his fifth season at the Cronulla club and his 17th overall in the NRL, Lewis will play his 299th top grade match when the Sharks play the Titans in round 19.

Lewis has been in outstanding form for the Sharks in 2017, playing 14 of 16 matches while scoring four tries, two of those spectacular long-range efforts in his team’s last two games.

Pleased to have his future sorted for another season, Lewis was not only looking forward to the remainder of this year and to the Sharks continuing to mount a strong title defence, but also to what lay ahead in 2018.

Thornton re-signs with Sharks

Thornton – the second leading scorer in Sharks history – re-signed on Sunday in a one-year deal reportedly worth $6.5million.

The 38-year-old has tallied 937 points in a Sharks uniform, behind only Patrick Marleau (1,082 points), who left for the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.

"Joe has become one of the faces of this franchise since his arrival in 2005 and we feel it's only fitting that he will be wearing teal going forward," Sharks general manager Doug Wilson said.