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 Cronulla Sharks
Next Game: The Season has finished
Five quick hits from Las Vegas: Jillaroos hammer England, Will Kennedy gets 'ridiculous' luck, Peter V'Landys's bizarre comment
2 Mar 2025
The Jillaroos dominate a historic clash with England, while Will Kennedy gets lucky in Las Vegas and Peter V'Landys makes a very confusing comment. Here are five quick hits from the rugby league carnival in Sin City.

The NRL kicked off the 2025 season in Las Vegas for the second year in a row, with the four-time defending premiers Penrith in action in Sin City.

Bolstered by a Super League contest and a desperately lopsided women's international between the Jillaroos and England, there was plenty of action in Allegiant Stadium.

Here are the five quick hits.

[Summary NRL]

1. Savage's sensational week

It's safe to say that Xavier Savage will look back fondly on this trip to Las Vegas.

First, he proposed to his partner Taliah Simbolon in front of the iconic Bellagio fountains — a far better use of his time than what his teammates Morgan Smithies and Hudson Young got up to a couple of hours later.

But then he starred on the pitch as well.

The 22-year-old Queenslander scored a first-half double, including a length-of-the-field intercept try in a thrilling performance in which he was tested defensively throughout by the Warriors' attack.

"Xavier's maturing," Ricky Stuart said in his post-match press conference.

"He's a great young bloke. He's paying some dividends to the blokes who believed in him.

"That's the maturity in him [getting engaged]. It's lovely for him."

2. Jillaroos dominate sorry Lionesses

Tamika Upton is pretty special.

Four-time premiership winner. One-time Dally M medallist. State of Origin winner …

And she nailed a hat-trick in the first half against England in what was the first top-flight women's sporting event to take place at Allegiant Stadium.

England's Lionesses were left clawless and toothless against the Broncos' superstar fullback, who earned 98 metres from just five carries, with two tackle breaks and a line break.

Oh, that was just in the first half.

She added another two tries in the second half as the Aussies ran in 17 tries to one, Upton furious that England scored at the death to ruin a clean sheet.

Julia Robinson and Jess Sergis both scored hat-tricks, with Tarryn Aiken adding six try assists to humiliate England, falling just short of their all-time record win of 92-0.

3. Horror head knock hospitalises England prop

The Jillaroos were clearly not interested in taking any prisoners at Allegiant Stadium.

And despite leading 38-0, came out firing at the start of the second half right from kick-off.

Unfortunately for England prop Vicky Whitfield, Sarah Togatuki lined her up from the restart and absolutely flattened her with a sickening head knock.

Togatuki got back up, albeit on wobbly legs, and was taken off the field.

Whitfield though, did not, and was left in the care of medical professionals who took their time before stretchering the St Helens forward off the field.

Fox Sports reported the Englishwoman was sent straight to hospital for precautionary scans.

With kick-offs already under the microscope given the risk of heavy collisions, this was another example to cite for those who want change.

4. Kennedy rides his luck in Vegas

Plenty of people have travelled to Las Vegas to ride their luck, and some people have even won every now and then. Will Kennedy can certainly add his name into that category.

With Cronulla defending a slim 4-0 lead in the 23rd minute, Lindsay Smith reached out and looked destined to slam the ball on the tryline, but Sharks fullback Kennedy arrived out of nowhere to knock the ball loose.

It seemed a miraculous try-saver, except that it was knocked directly into the path of Nathan Cleary, who grounded the ball.

Alas, referee Ashley Klein sent it to the bunker as "no try" where Liam Kennedy confirmed Smith had knocked on, despite Smith appearing to have control of the ball the entire time.

"That's ridiculous," former Cronulla premiership player Mick Ennis said in commentary for Fox Sports.

"[Kennedy's] not playing at anything else … gee, that's a tough call to the Panthers."

Two minutes later, Kennedy again denied Cleary with a leaping bat-back to prevent a 40/20, but replays as play continued on showed his toe on the touchline as he jumped.

Never been a better time to go bet it all on black.

5. Peter V'Landys the long jump artist?

While the NRL players were doing their utmost to show off the game in the best possible light on the pitch, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'Landys was doing the rounds promoting the game to the punters.

But while there's evidence that V'Landys's vision of rugby league breaking into the US market is making great strides, perhaps it's best to keep him off the microphone in future.

In an interview on Fox Sports, as New Zealand rapper Savage did his bit to entertain the crowd during half-time in the night's opening game, V'Landys said … well, we're not sure what he was trying to say to be honest.

"What about this hip hop music?" V'Landys said.

"I only did long jump, what's this hip hop stuff? Geez this is a bit loud."

Yeah, we don't know either.

V'Landys went on to praise the NRL for getting the match on: "I'm very proud of the NRL team … I'm only one person, there's a whole team behind me, I'm only the captain.

"They should be very proud of themselves because they've put on a brilliant show."


click here for full story...

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Last Game: The Sharks won against the Manly Eagles 40 - 16 at Toyota Park, Australia (7994 days ago)  game results here
 Cronulla Sharks Season 0 Stats (All games)
 Total Games Played 26 
 Away Games 13 
    Away Wins 15 
 Home Games 13 
    Home Wins
 Total Tries: 53 
 Total Goals: 40 
 Total Field Goals:
 Total Points For: 594 
 Total Points Against: 513 
 Leagues the Cronulla Sharks are in
1995 Winfield Cup, 1996 Optus Cup, 1997 Superleague Telstra Cup, 1998 NRL Season, 1999 NRL Country Carnival, 1999 NRL Season, 1999 NRL Finals, 2000 NRL Season, 2000 NRL Finals, 2001 NRL Pre-Season, 2001 NRL Season, 2001 NRL Finals, 2002 Pre-season games, 2002 NRL Season, 2002 NRL Finals, 2003 NRL Season,

 Players in 2002
Andrew Pierce, Brett Kimmorely, Chris Beattie, Chris McKenna, Colin Best, Danny Nutley, David Peachey, David Tangata-toa, Dean Bosnich, Dean Treister, Jason Stevens, Karl Lovell, Matthew Johns, Matthew Rieck, Nick Graham, Paul Franze, Paul Gallen, Paul Mellor, Phil Bailey, Preston Campbell, Sam Isemonger,

 Players in 2001
Adam Dykes, Brent Grose, Damien Mostyn, Jason Ferris, Luke Branighan, Luke Grose, Luke Stuart, Martin Lang, Matt Daylight, Matt Rogers, Nathan Long, Paul McNicholas, Ronald Prince, Russell Richardson, Scott Murray, Sean Ryan, Shannon Donato,

 Players in 2000
Andrew Ettinghausen, Blaine Stanley, Brett Howland, Mitch Healey, Paul Donaghy, Tim Maddison,

 Players in 1999
Matt Ryan,
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Last Results

Saturday, 10 May, 2003
Sharks 40
Eagles 16


Sunday, 4 May, 2003
St George 28
Sharks 12


Sunday, 20 Apr, 2003
Newcastle 32
Sharks 24


Saturday, 12 Apr, 2003
Melbourne 18
Sharks 12


Sunday, 6 Apr, 2003
Sydney City 40
Sharks 20


Sunday, 30 Mar, 2003
Brisbane 30
Sharks 4


Sunday, 16 Mar, 2003
Melbourne 36
Sharks 32


Sunday, 29 Sep, 2002
Warriors 16
Sharks 10


Saturday, 21 Sep, 2002
Sharks 40
St George 24


Friday, 13 Sep, 2002
Sydney City 32
Sharks 20


2003 NRL LADDER
Round 10
May 17th - 18th
Pos  Team Name  P
 1   Canberra   16 
 2   Brisbane   14 
 3   Warriors   14 
 4   Sydney City   12 
 5   Melbourne   12 
 6   Newcastle   12 
 7   Penrith   12 
 8   Canterbury   10 
 9   St George   10 
 10   Eagles   8 
 11   Cowboys   8 
 12   Sharks   6 
 13   Wests Tigers   6 
 14   Parramatta   4 
 15   South Sydney   2 
click for full table


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