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Message: [QUOTE="Broncoman, post: 2645951, member: 7803"] [B]2001 2nd Semi-Final; Cronulla Sharks V Canterbury Bulldogs [/B]A week after beating Brisbane 22-6 in the first week of the finals after finishing 6th the Sharks advanced to the 3rd week of the finals blowing the Bulldogs away 52-10 and knocking them out in straight sets, in another high scoring finals match, the night after the Broncos defeated the Dragons 44-28. [B]1st half; [/B]Cronulla came firing out of the blocks and by the 18th minute lead 20-0 after Nick Graham, Jason Ferris and Preston Campbell had shot through for tries and Mat Rogers had landed 4 goals from as many attempts. The Bulldogs had to play catch up footy from the start and tried to get their way back in the game but a desperate attempt from Shane Marteene was stopped by a last ditch tackle from Colin Best. Best managed to stop that one but was unable to do so a second time as the Bulldogs managed to score through Willie Talau. El Masri failed to convert and the score remained 20-4. Momentum was looking to swing the Bulldogs way but a shocking pass from Trindall was snapped up by Rogers who went over to regain the 20 point buffer just before halftime. The score remained unchanged at the Sharks held a 24-4 advantage. [B]2nd half; [/B]The second half followed the same story as Cronulla put away any hope of a Bulldogs comeback putting on 28 points after a tight first 15 minutes. Campbell went over for his second try just after halftime but the Bulldogs hung in there as Britt popped a miracle offload to Steve Price who scored to bring the margin back to 20 points. Cronulla took advantage of a tiring Canterbury team who didn't have any answers and went on a scoring spree in the last quarter of the game as Martin Lang, Ferris, Stuart and Best went over for tries and Rogers landing 3 goals for a personally tally of 18 points. [B]Notes - [/B]I find it quite surprising that this Sharks outfit failed to win a premiership. This side had some true enforces up front and some quality backs that could dazzle crowds and embarrass their opposition but they just failed at the last hurdle all the time. They were defeated by Newcastle 16-10 in the preliminary final the next week and they year after lost by the same score to the Warriors. 1999 was their year but they were defeated 24-8 by an Anthony Mundine inspired Dragons in the preliminary final - Despite scoring 52 points and playing some thrilling attacking footy the Sharks weren't 100% clinical as they still made around 15 errors - Most of Cronulla's tries beside from the ones in the last 20 minutes when the Bulldogs had nothing left in the tank and let in soft tries, Cronulla scored from basically just picking out holes in the Bulldogs defensive line through the middle. Canterbury's defence was all over the place most of the game and the score is a good example of that - Darren Britt played his final game of Rugby League in Australia and was by far the best Bulldog on the ground. Hit the line hard, popped some great offloads and took on Martin Lang and rattled him. - Lang scored the 2nd of his 2 career tries - This game was played a few days after the 9/11 attack on the USA and there was a minutes silence before the game. [B]Broncoman Man of the Match [/B]Preston Campbell. The Sharks had some great performers but Campbell was playing one of the bests seasons of his career and his running game and precision blew the Bulldogs away from the start and had them playing catch up from the start and he also managed to slice through for 2 tries. This was him Dally M winning year btw [B]Cronulla Sharks 52: [/B]Tries by Preston Campbell 2, Jason Ferris 2, Colin Best, Nick Graham, Martin Lang, Luke Stuart and Mat Rogers, 7 goals by Matt Rogers and a goal by Adam Dykes [B]Canterbury Bulldogs 10: [/B]Tries by Willie Talau and Steve Price and a goal by Hazem El Masri [B]Cronulla Sharks [/B]1: David Peachey 2: Matt Rogers 3: Paul Mellor 4: Chris McKenna 5: Colin Best 6: Adam Dykes 7: Preston Campbell 8: Jason Stevens 9: Jason Ferris 10: Martin Lang 11: Nathan Long 12: Paul McNicholas 13: Nick Graham 14: Chris Beattie 15: Andrew Pierce 16: Luke Stuart 17: Dean Triester Coach: John Lang [B]Canterbury Bulldogs [/B]1: Luke Pattern 2: Hazem El Masri 3: Nigel Vagana 4: Wille Talau 5: Shane Marteene 13: Darren Smith 6: Darrel Trindall 8: Darren Britt (captain) 19: Adam Perry 10: Steve Price 18: Willie Mason 12: Jamie Feeney 13: Steve Reardon 9: Corey Hughes 14: Paul Rauhihi 16: Dennis Scott 17: Adam Peek Coach: Steve Folkes [/QUOTE]

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