An undermanned Dragons unit finished on top of the Sharks 22-14 at Jubilee Stadium on Saturday afternoon with a pair of debutants playing an important role.
The win saw the Dragons reclaim the Monty Porter Cup as Kogarah came together to celebrate Indigenous Round.
It was a memorable afternoon for Dragons Academy graduates Hayden Buchanan and Jacob Halangahu who made their NRL debuts having been presented their jerseys earlier in the day.
The teenage duo notched a plethora of accolades coming through the grades having represented the Australian Schoolboys and NSW Under 19s State of Origin sides alongside each other.
There was plenty of feeling early with both sides firing shots throughout the opening forty, but it was a debut four-pointer for Gerringong junior Buchanan which sent the Jubilee faithful feverish just prior to the break.
The Dragons held the Sharks scoreless in the second half to hold on for a memorable home victory.
The Dragons drew first blood less than five minutes in through Emre Guler who won the race to a perfectly threaded Damien Cook grubber to tally his first try as a Dragon.
Kyle Flanagan had no troubles adding the extras from just to the left of the sticks to make it an early 6-0 Dragons advantage.
An ill-timed Dragons error handed the Sharks the next try of the contest with Braden Hamlin-Uele crashing over off it to lock things up 10 minutes in.
The visitors took the lead soon after courtesy of a contentious penalty try with Teig Wilton ruled to have been tackled in the air as he took possession of a Braydon Trindall kick metres out from the chalk.
The Dragons crafted a nice response a quarter of the way in through Tyrell Sloan who strolled over in the southwestern corner off the back of some sharp Moses Suli hands to cut the deficit back to just two.
Cronulla were penalised for a hand in the ruck soon after, laying the platform for Flanagan to slot a gift penalty goal and lock things up at a dozen.
A William Kennedy grubber trickled dead soon after, but video officials ruled that the Cronulla fullback was run off the ball by Luciano Leilua in his pursuit handing Nicho Hynes an opportunity to put over a penalty goal and make it 14-12.
The Dragons wrestled back the lead prior to the half though with Buchanan on the end of an enterprising piece of play sparked by five-eighth Lyhkan King-Togia – a familiar sight for those who kept an eye on Illawarra’s 2024 SG Ball outfit.
King-Togia busted into the backfield from close to 40 metres out and crafted an offload to a supporting Clint Gutherson who handed the ball off to the debutant to dive over in the left-hand corner.
The clash was paused momentarily as Moses Suli – who had tallied 131 run metres, and a try assist – nursed a knee issue picked up in an awkward tackle as he carried the ball out of yardage.
Suli was unable to return for the second half forcing Damien Cook to shift out into the centres but the Dragons found more success on the other side of the field.
Off a pristine King-Togia delivery, Buchanan manufactured a superb offload to Gutherson who slid over in the northwestern corner to make it 20-14 the way of the hosts.
Cronulla fired in a successful Captain’s Challenge with 23 minutes to play to overturn a knock-on call and keep them on the attack, but the Dragons’ defensive line held strong off it.
Halangahu came onto the field 18 minutes from full-time, marking the culmination of a childhood dream born in Sydney’s West.
A ruck penalty handed Flanagan another chance to add a penalty goal to the side’s total and the Dragons No.7 obliged to push the advantage beyond a converted try with 11 minutes remaining.
With six-and-a-half minutes to play, Cronulla won another Captain’s Challenge with Sloan penalised for a high shot on Blayke Brailey as the hooker’s attacking grubber kick went dead.
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NRL Match Highlights: Indigenous Round v Sharks
It was Halangahu who produced a bone-rattling shot on Trindall to jolt the ball free and earn possession back for his side, despite the visitors lodging another Captain’s Challenge.
Cronulla looked destined to nab a late try and set-up a grandstand finish off a sideline-to-sideline, last-tackle sequence only for Siosifa Talakai’s final pass to sail over the sideline.
Briton Nikora was binned the next play for a high shot on Corey Allan, but the Sharks’ hopes had not yet faded with a Hynes intercept propelling them back into good ball.
An inspirational Gutherson effort saved a Ronaldo Mulitalo try however as the famous Jubilee Hill erupted in unison to celebrate a special Dragons victory.