NRL: Dolphins edge out Sharks as Hynes misses golden chance

The Dolphins edged the Cronulla Sharks 30-28 in one of the most mercurial Thursday night NRL matches you’ll ever see.

It’s no surprise that rugby league bookmakers struggled to keep up.

Heading to the PointsBet Stadium in Sydney, the Dolphins were heavy underdogs. Despite proximity on the NRL ladder — the Dolphins on 18 points and Sharks on 22 — online bookies gave the visitors long odds to come away victorious.

Paying $3.20 compared to the Sharks at $1.36 when the first whistle blew, the Brisbane-based side well and truly put those odds to shame.

Odds flip drastically in Dolphins’ favour

The Dolphins came right out of the blocks and blew pre-match odds to pieces.

Within 25 minutes, they’d racked up a 22-0 lead, leaving the home side reeling.

At one stage, NRL bookmaker odds blew out as far as $49 for the Sharks to win, with the Dolphins well under $1.20.

However, the swings weren’t done. Cronulla clawed their way back into the match, making a real contest of it after a poor start.

Tries to Royce Hunt, Briton Nikora, Ronaldo Mulitalo and William Kennedy gave the home side the lead heading into the final quarter.

However, some Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow magic got the Dolphins back in front. From the cusp of his own tryline, ‘the Hammer’ ran backwards, ducking and weaving, before accelerating through the Sharks’ defence, carving them to pieces as he went more than 80 metres to score.

Hynes blows it for Sharks backers

Chances are, there will be a few punters who aren’t too happy with Nicho Hynes right now.

Despite Tabuai-Fidow’s heroics, Cronulla still gave themselves a chance to win this one. Sione Katoa scored right on full-time, drawing the Sharks within two points of the Dolphins.

Nail the conversion, and we’d be heading to golden points.

With the weight of expectation on his shoulders, Hynes sent his conversion attempt well wide to end the game.

Whether or not this impacts the playmaker’s position in the New South Wales State of Origin team is another question.

Hynes had a rough outing in game one, and this kind of performance will do no good for his chances of playing in Melbourne on June 26.

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