Sharks savaging leaves Sea Eagles’ finals hopes in free fall

If we are being fair dinkum, when do we start talking about Craig Fitzgibbon winning coach of the year?

Cronulla were a true joy to watch on a sunny Sunday afternoon at as they triumphed 48-12 against Manly at 4 Pines Park.

The last half-hour felt like it dragged on forever. It was Cronulla’s fifth straight win on the northern beaches.

And it was extra special considering the Sea Eagles had everything to play for.

Manly are now four points adrift of the top eight, and the difference between them and genuine top-four contenders the Sharks is huge.

Which is why Fitzgibbon needs to take a bow. Fitzgibbon has now overseen the club for six seasons, and there is every chance his side will notch a top-four finish for a fourth time. He’s made the finals the other two seasons.

If Fitzgibbon does not win the top gong, then who? Penrith’s Ivan Cleary? New Zealand Warriors’ coach Andrew Webster or Kristian Woolf at the Dolphins?

Fitzgibbon’s Cronulla side are the real deal with the perfect amount of speed and flair and mongrel.

Nicho Hynes has now kicked 26 successive goals and playing is with the kind of confidence that made the Sharks recruit him from Melbourne. Hynes is proof good guys never finish last.

Will Kennedy’s ability to stay alive on the play and keep running and moving before popping up to score a try in the 16th minute was inspiring.

And what about the courage and class from Braydon Trindall to throw a wobbly cut-out pass for Ronaldo Mulitalo to score in the left corner.

Nine commentator Andrew Johns rightfully pointed out the desperation was there right until the end when Hynes threw a wild pass backwards, only for Siona Katoa to put his body on the line and beat Joey Walsh to the loose ball.

Cronulla have now won four games since the bye round, and with matches against South Sydney, St George Illawarra, Canberra, Gold Coast, Parramatta and struggling Melbourne, the Shire club will lose again before the finals.

Manly have now dropped four straight games and will need to do some soul-searching during the bye before flying to Perth to take on Melbourne.

There is a good chance they will welcome the return of Tom Trbojevic (hamstring), while the longer turnaround will give his younger brother Ben every chance to overcome a concussiony. Ben reeled out of a tackle on Sifa Talakai and his afternoon ended before half-time.

The club’s Golden Eagles ranging from club legends such as 96-year-old Ken Arthurson and one-gamers such as James Segeyaro was meant to inspire the current group before kick-off.

But they struggled for good field position and came up with a few poor options at the end of sets. Two of Jamal Fogarty’s kicks went too deep in the first half and gifted Cronulla seven-tackle sets.

The first of the fans started to exit with just half an hour remaining after Hynes sliced through the defence and rifled a pass back infield for Talakai to score to make it 42-6. The rest followed with about 15 minutes remaining when Trindall’s kick was pounced on by KL Iro.