NRL: Cronulla Sharks outlast Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in spiteful 25-6 victory

A possible suspension for Briton Nikora may take the shine off Cronulla’s best start to an NRL season in more than a decade after the Sharks saw off Canterbury in a 25-6 victory.

The Sharks back-rower is likely to be charged by the NRL’s match review committee after clobbering Bulldogs second-rower Viliame Kikau in the first half at Shark Park on Friday.

Nikora was sent to the sin bin for contact that was high and forceful and could land him with a ban heading into round three’s meeting with Wests Tigers.

The ill-tempered win ensured that for the first time since 2008 Cronulla have begun the season with two straight victories.

They also made it six consecutive wins against Canterbury, who were down a man after 10 seconds when front-rower Poasa Faamausili charged in off the back fence and collided with Cameron McInnes.

Faamausili’s face met McInnes’ head, and after lying prone for several minutes, the Canterbury prop did not return due to concussion.

Five minutes later, Nikora whacked Kikau late and high, with referee Ziggy Przeklasa-Adamski sending the Sharks back-rower for a stint on the sidelines.

Przeklasa-Adamski was in the thick of the action in a spiteful first half punctuated by several skirmishes between the sides.

And the referee was to blame when Kikau looked to have opened the scoring in the seventh minute, only for the try to be chalked off.

Replays showed Przeklasa-Adamski had prevented Braydon Trindall from getting across and making a tackle on Kikau, which could have prevented the rangy Fijian from going over.

Eventually the Dogs got their breakthrough when diminutive winger Blake Wilson wriggled his way over the line in the 12th minute.

Trindall hit back for his first try of the season after finishing off a nice interchange of passes started by Nicho Hynes and Teig Wilton.

For the next half an hour things were nip-and-tuck but Sharks winger Sione Katoa eventually broke the deadlock when he crashed over in the 55th minute to put Cronulla ahead.

With the game still in the balance with a little less than a quarter of an hour to go, Hynes took charge when he opted to run the play on the fifth tackle.

Wilton and Siosifa Talakai were in support, with the latter teeing up Ronaldo Mulitalo, who hacked ahead and regathered his own kick to put the game beyond Canterbury’s reach.

Wilton added a further try late in the piece, with Hynes slotting a field goal with 30 seconds left to rub salt into Canterbury’s wounds.