Wests Tigers v Canterbury Bulldogs, Newcastle Knights v Cronulla Sharks: NRL round 12 live scores, stats and commentary
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The Tigers and Bulldogs do battle in a western Sydney derby, after the Sharks hammer the Knights 48-10.
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Sharks hand out thrashing to outclassed Knights
Matt Moylan turned in easily his best performance since joining Cronulla, laying on six tries and being involved in a seventh in a 48-10 belting of a woeful Newcastle on Sunday.
Moylan set up five of them in a stunning 14-minute spell in Newcastle, extending the Sharks' lead from 10 to a 38 to leave the Knights' defence in tatters.
The former Kangaroos representative had his entire array of skills on show, putting teammates over with long cut-out passes, short balls and pinpoint kicks.
Six different Cronulla players finished on the scoresheet, with Valentine Holmes scoring a hat trick and right-edge partner Jesse Ramien giving his future team a taste of his potential with a double.
Only some wayward goalkicking from Chad Townsend, who converted six from 10 attempts, prevented the Sharks from cracking the half-century.
The win not only extends the Sharks' streak to six, but also lifts them into the top four for the first time this season and sets up a mouth-watering clash with South Sydney next week.
In contrast, the Knights' fourth straight defeat in front of a healthy crowd of 20,913 was also arguably their worst effort of the year.
It was one-way traffic from the kick-off, beginning with Moylan's pass for Ramien in the third minute.
The Knights' left edge was again exposed when they inexplicably allowed a Townsend kick to bounce for Holmes, before Matt Prior offloaded for Jayden Brailey to breeze through under the posts.
Not even a Lachlan Fitzgibbon try against the run of play could halt the Sharks' momentum, with Josh Dugan and Edrick Lee scoring soft four-pointers either side of the break.
Both were set up by former Penrith captain Moylan, who then laid on more points for Luke Lewis, Holmes and Ramien in a spectacular one-man assault.
Knights centre Nathan Ross failed to take the field in the second half after succumbing to a groin issue, while he was also put on report for tripping.
AAP
Topics: nrl, rugby-league, sport
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