They backed it up to take the lead when young playmaker Lykhan King-Togia beat four players to score, before two Sharks errors led to another Dragons try.

Nicho Hynes’ knock-on was quickly scooped up by Clint Gutherson, who took off down the field. While Jesse Ramien was able to catch him, Ramien was sin-binned for holding the Dragons fullback down.

It meant the Sharks had to finish the first half and start the second half one man down — and it took the Dragons just seconds to capitalise with Jack de Belin crashing over.

But whatever Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon said at half time worked because his side came out on a mission after the break, scoring three tries in eight minutes to completely swing the momentum.

Briton Nikora celebrated his 150th NRL game with a try before Trindall crossed for his second and Sione Katoa also bagged a double.

BRILLIANT BRAILEY ‘BEST ON GROUND’

Reece Robson might own the New South Wales No.9 jersey for now, but Blayke Brailey is surely hot on his heels.

The pint-sized hooker was again one of the Sharks’ best, finishing with a try assist, two linebreaks, five tackle busts, 87 running metres and a game-high of 47 tackles with no misses.

Brailey has always been a defensive workhorse but he reminded everyone of what he can do in attack on Thursday night with the 26-year-old working his magic early in the game with a damaging run to set up the first try.

“He’s come out of a canon to start this game… the speed and sharp footwork of Brailey is killing them through the ruck,” Fox League’s Michael Ennis said in commentary.

“He came here tonight without a linebreak and was averaging 3 runs for 25 metres… he’s already run for 37, had a linebreak and set up a try. He’s on fire.”

Brailey continued to cause havoc throughout the game, convincing Ennis to declare him the “best on ground.”

Matty Johns backed that up by also saying he was the “best player on the field.”

“Again, early in the match, he was just cutting them into ribbons,” Johns added.

The Sharks have played finals the last three seasons but can’t seem to take that next step and announce themselves as dead set premiership threats.

Ennis believes Brailey is key to going to the next level.

“There’s been some moments with this Sharks side — that has been top four-bound over the last few years — where you think ‘what’s that next layer?’ I think it’s Brailey. When Brailey’s active out of dummy-half they really do go to another level,” he said.

‘ENORMOUS’ AFB LEADS THE WAY

Addin Fonua-Blake had one of his quieter games last week against his former team the Warriors, but the star font-rower more than made up for it with a barnstorming performance in the local derby.

Fonua-Blake bashed out the first 62 minutes of the game before getting a well-deserved break and then came back on 75th minute to finish off the game. He finished with 170 running metres – easily the most of any forward on the field — as well as three tackle busts, three offloads and 38 tackles with three misses.

“What about the damage Adin Fonua-Blake is doing in the middle… he has been enormous in the second half,” Fox League’s Michael Ennis said in commentary.

It’s exactly the reason the Sharks lured Fonua-Blake to the club — to be their leading enforcer and to provide unstoppable go-forward.

It sets up an epic battle with Broncos powerhouse Payne Haas next week when the Sharks head up to Suncorp Stadium.

DRAGONS SELF-DESTRUCT

Shane Flanagan has always prided himself on having a defensively gritty team and while there’s been some impressive performances this season, the last fortnight has proven there’s still a lot of work to do at the Red V.

The Dragons have conceded 86 points in the last two games. Their 56-6 shellacking by the Dolphins put a line through their premiership hopes for 2025 — because as the rule goes, no team has conceded 50 points and gone on to win the competition in the same season.

They needed to respond and the local derby was the perfect stage to do so.

The first half indicated that the Dragons were on their way to an important win over their arch rivals, but moments like Tyrell Sloan and Nathan Lawson’s weakness under the high ball proved costly.

“They have selfdestructed, the Dragons,” Michael Ennis said in commentary after the Sharks took the lead following their third try in eight minutes.

The Dragons were also on the receiving end of a tough call by referee Grant Atkins, which basically summed up their second half where just about nothing went right.

Their short kick-off attempt was ruled by Atkins as not reaching 10 metres — when replays showed it clearly did before a Dragons player batted the ball back.

The Dragons had already used their challenge so were unable to contest the decision.