Katoa hat-trick seals Sharks win as attention turns to Pay's future
A scintillating Sione Katoa hat-trick has given Cronulla's season a pulse, taken the pressure off embattled coach John Morris and turned the attention to Dean Pay's future at Canterbury all at once.
Katoa scored three tries as Cronulla claimed a 20-18 win against the lowly Bulldogs, whose effort could not be questioned in a battle of two bottom-four sides at Bankwest Stadium.
There were sencouraging signs of life for the Sharks, who had copped it from all corners of the NRL world after their embarrassing loss to the Dragons one week ago.
But first, the elephant in the room
Pay will enter this week fighting for his coaching life. The Bulldogs have a board meeting on Thursday, in which his future will almost certainly appear on the agenda.
Canterbury's effort cannot be questioned. For that, Pay must be commended. The lack of quality players at his disposal is also in no doubt.
Kieran Foran and Will Hopoate are quality first-graders if nothing else but the remainder of the backs leave plenty to be desired.
Dallin Watene-Zelezniak may have produced the biggest shot of the year on Matt Moylan in this clash but he hasn't set the world on fire since his mid-season switch from Penrith this time last year. Reimis Smith still hasn't found his feet at NRL level, and Christian Crichton is just getting by on the wing.
Brandon Wakeham, however, has shown enough spark in attack to suggest he should be the young playmaker Pay persists with as Foran's partner. He could do with some additional discipline, though, as his sin-binning in early in the second half cost Canterbury dearly.
Up front, Jeremy Marshall-King looked threatening out of dummy-half and Dylan Napa, Josh Jackson and Adam Elliott were at their typical, industrious best.
Sione Katoa goes over for his third try of the night.Credit:AAP
That all added up to another solid showing from the Bulldogs. They are tough and make teams work for wins, if nothing else.
But professional sports has been and always will be a results driven business and in his 20 months in the job, Pay hasn't been able to conjure enough wins. It's that simple.
While the Bulldogs do not look as lost as the Dragons did a fortnight ago, they simply don't look like winning games against even bottom four opponents - such as Cronulla.
The difference between the two teams on Sunday night was one player - Katoa.
His first try showcased his absurd athleticism. He was almost vertical while planting the ball put perfectly on a platter by Chad Townsend.
His second try was his best effort of the night.
Shaun Johnson speared a cut-out pass across the face of two Bulldogs defenders but the ball fell to Katoa's feet. The Tongan international picked the ball up off his bootlaces - in greasy conditions at top speed - and raced over to score his second of the night.
No more than five minutes later Johnson put boot to ball and perfectly weighted a grubber in behind the Bulldogs' line. Katoa was there to do the rest.
He was aided by two of the better games Shaun Johnson and Moylan have played in the last 12 months.
The former's kicking game both dominated the territory battle and created points and the latter looked lively with ball in hand.
A late, length of the field intercept try to Crichton kept the Bulldogs right in the hunt until the final whistle but they could not peg back the margin.