ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 24 CRONULLA SHARKS 16
TOM SMITH, St George Venues Jubilee Stadium, Kogarah, Sunday

THE DRAGONS stunned the Sharks with an almighty boil-over in their local derby.

The game hung in the balance when Liam Kennedy sin-binned Addin Fonua-Blake for catching Hamish Stewart with his shoulder deep in the second half, and substitute winger Setu Tu – on for the injured Mathew Feagai (back) – put the game to bed.

The two southern Sydney neighbours sit at opposite ends of the ladder, with Cronulla sitting pretty in the top four and St George Illawarra heading for a maiden wooden spoon.

But the hosts produced a famous upset for just their third win of 2026.

The game started to the script when Nicho Hynes put Sione Katoa into the right corner.

But Valentine Holmes pounced on a Lyhkan King-Togia grubber kick, Clin Gutherson made a try-saving tackle on Hynes and Stewart soared for a Kyle Flanagan kick to put Saints on top.

Billy Burns burrowed over for the visitors before the break, making it 12-10.

But the Dragons’ momentum continued after the break, as Stewart sent Tyrell Sloan sliding into the left corner.

Jesse Ramien grounded a scrappy Will Kennedy pass to restore parity again, although a Holmes -goal from an escort penalty gave St George Illawarra a slender lead.

Then with Fonua-Blake in the bin, Tu added a thrilling late match-sealer.

DRAGONS: 1 Clint Gutherson, 5 Tyrell Sloan, 3 Moses Suli, 4 Valentine Holmes, 19 Mathew Feagai, 6 Lyhkan King-Togia, 7 Kyle Flanagan, 8 Loko Jnr Pasifiki Tonga, 14 Jacob Liddle, 10 Emre Guler, 11 Dylan Egan, 12 Hamish Stewart, 13 Ryan Couchman. Subs: 2 Setu Tu, 9 Damien Cook (not used), 15 Josh Kerr (not used), 16 Jacob Halangahu, 17 Jacob Webster, 18 Daniel Atkinson (not used)

Tries: Holmes (14), Stewart (25), Sloan (45), Tu (77); Goals: Holmes 4/5

SHARKS: 1 Will Kennedy, 2 Sione Katoa, 3 Jesse Ramien, 4 Mawene Hiroti, 5 Ronaldo Mulitalo, 6 Braydon Trindall, 7 Nicho Hynes, 8 Addin Fonua-Blake, 9 Blayke Brailey, 10 Jesse Colquhoun, 11 Briton Nikora, 12 Teig Wilton, 13 Cameron McInnes. Subs: 14 Hohepa Puru (not used), 15 Billy Burns, 16 Oregon Kaufusi, 17 Thomas Hazelton, 18 Michael Gabriel (not used), 19 Braden Uele

Tries: Katoa (6), Burns (33), Ramien (52); Goals: Hynes 2/3; Sin bin: Fonua-Blake (68) – high tackle

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-4, 6-4, 12-4, 12-10; 16-10, 16-16, 18-16, 24-16

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Dragons: Ryan Couchman; Sharks: Billy Burns

Penalty count: 5-3; Half-time: 12-10; Referee: Liam Kennedy; Attendance: 11,018