Canberra’s NRL premiership bid has crumbled at the hands of Cronulla, who have claimed a 32-12 semi-final victory to send the Raiders crashing out of the finals in straight sets.
The Raiders became the first minor premiers to suffer consecutive finals defeat since St George Illawarra in 2009 as Ricky Stuart’s men froze on Saturday in the biggest game of their season.
Cronulla weathered an early onslaught at GIO Stadium to book a place in next Friday’s preliminary final against Melbourne but they will be without prop Tom Hazleton (concussion) while fellow forward Toby Rudolf could face sanction for two first-half high shots.
Led by halfback Nicho Hynes, the Sharks ruthlessly poked at the Raiders’ sore points which were exposed in last week’s 94th minute qualifying final loss to Brisbane.
Canberra’s flimsy right edge defence comprising halfback Jamal Fogarty, second-rower Zac Hosking and centre Matt Timoko missed 12 tackles combined as Hynes and halves partner Braydon Trindall ran riot.
Their chemistry helped move the Sharks to within one game of a grand final while Canberra will be left wondering what might have been after a season that promised so much.
Livewire five-eighth Ethan Strange was ruled out on gameday and with Simi Sasagi deputising as a No. 6, the Raiders lacked their usual spark.
The home side struggled for fluency in attack and they only got on the board when Corey Horsburgh burst through a drained Sharks defence to touch down in the 22nd minute.
Horsburgh’s try gave the Sharks a chance to regroup and even accounting for Hazleton going off, Craig Fitzgibbon’s men began showing up the Raiders’ shortcomings.
Halfback Fogarty came up too eagerly in defence and Hynes helped send Mulitalo over on the left wing with a 34th minute try.
Cronulla smelt blood and added a second when centre KL Iro ran through some meek Timoko defence just before halftime.
Iro was felled close to the Raiders tryline but on the next tackle Hynes waltzed through a disorganised defence to put his side 12-6 up at the break.
Fogarty made amends for his early misread straight after halftime, sending a cutout pass to Seb Kris, who tipped on for Savelio Tamale to finish in the left corner.
But that was about as good as it got for the home side as Billy Burns swatted through a feeble Fogarty tackle to move the Sharks back in front.
Hynes, who finished the night with six goals from six attempts, kicked the conversion and then added a 25m penalty to open up an eight-point buffer on the hour mark.
Canberra have made a habit of miracle comebacks but on Saturday their luck ran out.
Iro scooped up a loose ball after a blunder from Jed Stuart to go over before a try to Teig Wilton put the finishing touches on an impressive Sharks win.
Cronulla fans then broke into spontaneous renditions of Canberrra's signature Viking clap as the clock ticked down to fulltime.
