Valentine Holmes

The 12447 lucky enough to secure a ticket to the match witnessed something special: 10 tries, five lead changes and a thrilling contest that went into extra ...

“It’s hard to tell, I’m assuming it was a good one to watch for the neutrals as well. Each of them threatened to be a decisive one, only for it to be bettered by something even more spectacular. And yet, over the course of a pulsating first half, there were at least two four-pointers of its equal. It was a pace they somehow managed to maintain. Jason Taumalolo threw a pinpoint 25-metre spiral to his centre, who did the rest. The attendees were greeted by a burst of rain, the obligatory southerly and then a contest as skilful as it was willing. They finished regulation time with just 12 men after the late sin-binning of Connor Tracey when their advantage was whittled down to just a converted try. But in losing Hynes and Dale Finucane, they have gifted the Sharks the buys of the year, as responsible as Fitzgibbon in transforming the culture of the club. But the ensuing penalty goal, and a try from Jason Taumalolo with just 17 seconds to play, sent the game into extra time. The merits of staging the game at PointsBet Stadium, rather than the shiny new $828 million facility in the city, will long be debated. The only time they were silenced was when Holmes’ kick sailed through the uprights. For much of the evening, Nicho Hynes’ shone the brightest.