The Cronulla Sharks have finished yet another week on top of the NRL ladder after a 20-10 win over the St George Illawarra Dragons on Sunday afternoon.
But it was far from the convincing domination the Sharks would have been hoping for, but that was largely taken out of their hands.
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With Sydney swamped by rain over the weekend, Cronulla was the hardest hit with the Bureau of Meteorology reporting 69mm of rain fell in the area to 9am this morning.
And it was clear just how much rain had fallen with water needing to be pumped off the field, while the main entry to the stadium precinct was almost completely under water hours before the match kicked off.
It saw the club scrambling to get the stadium ready to play with The Daily Telegraph reporting CEO Dino Mezzatesta seen at Bunnings on Sunday morning to purchase pressure pumps and hoses.
The Daily Telegraph posted that “If you’re heading to Shark Park this afternoon you better pack a snorkel!”
Although the 12,000 seat stadium was sold out on Thursday, the heavy rain kept some away, although it was still an impressive 9731 fans who turned up despite the horrendous conditions.
But they weren’t rewarded with a classic by an means as the sides had their work cut out just holding onto the ball.
The Dragons had 14 mistakes to the Sharks’ 10 but cost themselves in the second half despite taking a 10-6 lead into the halftime break.
“We were just awful,” Dragons coach Shane Flanagan said.
“Never completely sets, never got to our kick and when we did, didn’t nail them down in the corners so it was a frustrating game from our perspective. We didn’t give ourselves a chance because of the errors we made.
“I thought some of the errors we made and self inflicted penalties … you just can’t do that against a good footy team.”
Ben Hunt agreed that the Dragons “didn’t give ourselves a chance”.
Flanagan had stoked the flames of a rivalry when he spoke last week, saying it’d “been marked in the calendar for a while” and that the Sharks hadn’t won a comp since he’d coached the side.
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon said defence had won the game.
“In the back end of that first half, the amount of six-agains and penalties – it’s defence, defence, defence,” Fitzgibbon said.
“You can hold your gloves up for long enough and then the dam breaks and they score and it can rock you.
“But I was pleased with the way we came out of that.
“What is it? Round 9? Assessing where we’re at … there’s so much that can happen between now and the end of the year but we’re pretty consistent at the moment.”
The Sharks have a tough run ahead with matches against the Storm in Melbourne, Roosters at Magic Round in Brisbane and the Panthers at home over the next three weeks.