The Sharks have been written off as not a serious threat to the title in some quarters but they are lurking in the shadows, lying in wait, ready to strike after rising to third spot with Sunday’s 38-10 thrashing of St George Illawarra in a lopsided local derby at WIN Stadium.

Despite being without Dally M Medal winner Nicho Hynes and prolific wingers Sione Katoa and Ronaldo Mulitalo, the depleted Sharks dominated the Dragons to monster them in the middle and race around them out wide.

The Roosters barely got out of second gear in cruising to a 48-22 triumph over the Gold Coast at Cbus Super Stadium to also leapfrog Penrith, snaring second spot on the ladder, with yet another ban for Jared Waerea-Hargreaves the main concern for Trent Robinson heading into the final two rounds. 

In his comeback from a four-game bane, the veteran Kiwi hit former teammate Sam Verrills high and if the match review committee comes down hard, his poor judiciary record could result in a season-ending ban which would bring down the curtain on his NRL career.

1. Sharks slice and dice Dragons

They are considered toothless by their critics but that is doing the Sharks a disservice.

Their game is built on power running through the middle with a school of hungry outside backs ready to attack the moment there is blood in the water.

Even without Hynes for the past six weeks while he has been rehabbing his ankle injury, Cronulla have for the most part been adventurous at the offensive end rather than the conservative style which has become their ill-deserved reputation.

Their forwards manhandled their red and white rivals in Wollongong, putting the defence on the back foot with charging runs and quick play-the-balls.

In defence, the Sharks were bloodthirsty with inent in their line speed to get in the grill of the Dragons.

The home side was slow off the mark and their pedestrian efforts were never going to be enough in a standard NRL game, let alone a heated derby showdown.

Tyrell Sloan is tackled. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Jesse Ramien stood up Mat Feagai for the first try and after Jack Bird put the Dragons up when he backed up a Max Feagai break, the Sharks were up 10-6 when Braydon Trindall put Kayal Iro over.

Ramien was sin-binned midway through the first half but the Dragons failed to generate any momentum and when Sam Stonestreet stepped past a few ineffective tackles, in the 33rd minute, the Sharks took a 14-6 lead into the break.

The Dragons gave themselves a sniff when Christian Tuipulotu touched down to reduce the gap to four but Will Kennedy flew above opposing fullback Tyrell Sloan for a brilliant try for a 10-point lead.

Briton Nikora killed the contest when he raced over midway through the second half and Stonestreet was lucky to get a second try when the touch judge was too focused on whether his feet touched the sidelined and missed a blatant forward pass.

“You just don’t want to get caught in worrying about who you don’t have,” Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon said when asked about Hynes, his wingers and Sisosifa Talakai (calf) being out. “Same as every other team, there’s always a host of injuries and challenges. At the end of the 80 minutes that’s not going to be an excuse for us.”

2. Dragons’ pain is quartet’s gain

If you could hear cheering from the north and south-west of WIN Stadium on Sunday, that was coming from Brisbane, Newcastle, Canberra and The (otherwise known as Redcliffe) where the Dolphins reside.

St George Illawarra’s loss means they remain just two points clear of the chasing quartet with two rounds left and the Broncos and Dolphins have a much better for-and-against record so they only need to equal them on the ladder.

The two Brisbane sides face off next Saturday at Suncorp Stadium, just after the Dragons travel to Parramatta. The Knights should be able to topple the Titans at home while Canberra need to upset the Roosters in the later game on Sunday to stay in the race.

Despite their listless performance against the Sharks, Shane Flanagan’s side is still in pole position for eighth spot – with the Raiders their final-round opponents at Kogarah.

For a team that has built its unexpected success on staying in the contest, the Dragons’ effort against Cronulla was deflating for their sell-out crowd.

They have thrown up a few turkeys this season, which is why their differential is so bad, and this was one of them.

“It was disappointing. Too many errors, too many penalties in the first half. We gave them possession, field position and it cooked us. We were just too tired in the end. It was what we did to ourselves,” Flanagan said.

“They were just better than us, showed more intent.

“Consistency during the season has been a problem for us. And that’s why we’re in the position that we’re in. I’ve got a team that can play semi-final football but we’ve got to go and prove it.”

Flanagan said a missed try opportunity when a Ben Hunt pass hit Ashley Klein when it could have sent Zac Lomax to the stripe was unfortunate and a momentum killer for his team in the second half but was no excuse for their late collapse to lose by 28.

If they sneak into the finals, it starts and ends with their forwards. The red and white pack was embarrassed by the boys in black, white and blue with second-rowers Briton Nikora and Teig Wilton carving them up on the edge after the middle forwards rumbled up the centre.

Blayke Brailey had a field day running out of dummy-half as the St George Illawarra soft underbelly was exposed.

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3. Suaalii injury not serious as Roosters rumble to easy win

Second spot with a home game against the Raiders then the struggling Rabbitohs to finish the season – happy days for the Roosters. 

Penrith going backwards with their best player sidelined, it’s all coming up Milhouse for the Tricolours.

They could even match up in the first round of the finals against Cronulla, a team they eliminated in last year’s playoffs, to earn automatic entry into the preliminary final stage. 

With Connor Watson (concussion) and Brandon Smith (calf) set to return next week, their only concern is a shoulder injury to Joseph Suaalii, who failed to finish the 48-22 walk in the park against the Gold Coast. 

Suaalii injured his left shoulder in tackling David Fifita in the 18th minute and was hauled off to the sheds with his arm tucked into his jersey in a makeshift sling.

Robinson said it was “a really bad stinger” and Suaalii is a chance to suit up against the Raiders next weekend.

It didn’t halt the Roosters’ momentum much at all – they led 26-10 at half-time with two pieces of brilliance from Khan-Pereira, including a contender for individual try of the year, kept the Titans theoretically in the contest. 

In reality, they were no chance and that was confirmed five minutes into the second stanza when James Tedesco dummied past dumbfounded defenders.

4. Tedesco could be in Kangaroos frame

James Tedesco did not let anyone down when he filled in for NSW in Origin I and his Test career may not be over despite falling behind Dylan Edwards in the fullback pecking order.

The Roosters veteran was his typically busy self in Sunday’s cruise to victory over the Titans, racking up more metres than anyone else on his team (202), scoring a try early in the second half and snuffing out another one to Alofiana Khan-Pereira. 

Edwards is the odds-on favourite to get the Australian No.1 jersey but Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga has not closed the door on Tedesco retaining his spot in the squad which will take on Tonga and New Zealand in the Pacific Championships in October. 

Reece Walsh looked a certainty to also get the nod ahead of Tedesco earlier in the season at Test level but he has gone off the boil with a drop in form coinciding with a hand injury. 

Latrell Mitchell is out of the running due to his foot injury and off-field issues, leaving Tom Trbojevic as the main rival to Tedesco for the back-up fullback spot in the squad. 

Trbojevic will likely start in the centres for the Kangaroos if he is fit while another near-certain selection, Valentine Holmes, could also act as cover for fullback if needed so that will hurt Tedesco’s chances of making the cut.

If he doesn’t get the gig, it will be interesting to see who inherits the captaincy – Maroons skipper Daly Cherry-Evans would be an option but only if Nathan Cleary is out injured, NSW captain Jake Trbojevic would also only be a short-term option and he is no guarantee to make the team either.

Cleary, if fit, could be named as a long-term appointment with the 2026 World Cup in mind or Meninga has other options like Isaah Yeo and Cameron Murray who have plenty of leadership experience.

5. Titans a byword for mediocrity

Two weeks left in the season and the Gold Coast are in familiar territory – 13th spot with an 8-14 record and another summer of soul searching on the horizon. 

Six weeks ago they looked a smokey to make the playoffs but they have won just two games since then – an upset over the Dolphins and a stirring win over the bumbling Broncos. 

Their four losses have been stinkers – 38-8 to Manly, 44-0 to Cronulla, 32-16 to the Dragons and another rout, conceding 48, on Sunday at the hands of the Roosters. 

The club lacks an identity apart from being renowned for being fragile. 

Apart from the two seasons when they finished in the top four under John Cartwright in 2009-10, the Titans have finished eighth or lower every other year, losing their qualifying final in the two times they actually made the playoffs.

Des Hasler only has three years to prove he can stop the rot and he will be lucky to see out the final season of his contract if 2025 is similar to 2024.

The return of Tino Fa’asuamaleaui will give the team much-needed physical and mental strength but as good as he is, the skipper is just one player and cannot carry an entire team. 

Hasler needs more experienced, hardened first-graders to ensure he sees out his contract and gets another one but the club probably needs to invest in youth because a lot of their current players are doing little more than filling a roster slot without offering much that contributes to the winning of football games.

“I’m sick of making excuses for them,” a clearly agitated Hasler said in the post-match media conference. “We’ve just got to be stronger.”

The Kick: JWH a liability who’ll clearly never learn

Surprisingly, not really, Waerea-Hargreaves was sin-binned for a high hit on Verrills, his former premiership-winning teammate, in the 12th minute of the Roosters’ 26-point victory.

Despite his trademark look of bemusement as he was being marched, it was a sin bin every day of the week (unless a Friday in Auckland evidently, judging by Stephen Crichton being spared against the Warriors).

“I don’t think I can talk too much on that. It was disappointing for him to go to the bin but I might keep it at that,” Robinson said.

He will cop a charge from the match review committee on Monday and with the Roosters potentially only playing four more matches, there is a chance he has played his last game in the NRL.

JWH will finish his career with a one-season swansong with Hull KR in the Super League next year.

He has already been charged four times this season, copping fines for the first three offences before serving a four-game ban for a high tackle in Round 18.

This was his comeback match from that suspension and he couldn’t help himself, lasting less than 12 minutes before launching his shoulder into Verrills, a tackle that was a mix of poor technique, carelessness, recklessness and a refusal to change his ways. 

He has become a liability for the Roosters and it’s hard to see why Robinson started him ahead of Spencer Leniu, he shouldn’t have that selection dilemma for at least the next couple of weeks and potentially until deep into the finals.