An emotion charged Andrew Fifita responded to a decision by Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan to bench him midway through the first half by returning to inspire his injury hit side to a 28‑16 defeat of North Queensland at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
After charging his way over the tryline in the 69th minute to put Cronulla ahead 18‑12, a fired up Fifita shouted and pointed as he looked towards the Sharks coaching box.
Regardless of how Fifita felt, the decision to keep him sitting on the sideline for 42 minutes could be viewed as a smart tactic, given the fact the Sharks scored three of their five tries in the final 11 minutes to wreck any thoughts of Johnathan Thurston celebrating a win in his farewell Sydney match.
In other round 23 NRl matches played last night, the Knights beat the Panthers 24-12 while the Dragons defeated the Wests Tigers 20-10.
Today, the Bulldogs will take on the Warriors at 4pm while the Raiders will face the Roosters at 6.10pm.
[Source: NRL]
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