SF
Mako Shark
From RLW:
- The cheerleaders looked immaculate, the skydiver dropped in spectacularly, John Dorahy publicly thanked the thousands of loyal Steeler fans - but Illawarra's defence was tragic.
- Cronulla hooker Rowland Beckett kept the Steelers on a 'starvation diet,' with Illawarra not touching the ball in a twenty-minute period of the first half.
- With all that possession, Haddock turned his free-flowing backline loose, with four tries in a sixteen-minute blitz.
- Rogers was in his element as he probed and darted into the Steelers defence.
- Repeatedly Cronulla ball carriers emerged from tackles and off-loaded the ball, as in See's first try, where every player broke or held off a tackle to unload the ball.
- Gavin Miller and Steelers prop Peter Ryan were sin-binned for a back-play incident. One minute after returning, Ryan cuffed Miller across the face and appeared almost certain to be sent off. Fortunately for Illawarra, he was only sin-binned again.
- Illawarra were coached by future Sharks coach, Alan Fitzgibbon.