VIVA LAS VEGAS: Trindall’s Sharks looking sharp ahead of season opener abroad

From the dust and dirt of Wee Waa’s Cook Oval to the bright lights of Las Vegas, Braydon Trindall’s journey is proof that a dream and plenty of hard work can take you to the most unexpected places.

The former Panthers junior is ready to embark on his sixth season as an NRL player when he pulls on the number six jersey for the Cronulla Sharks against the Penrith Panthers on Sunday, March 2.

The drive between the two clubs’ home grounds is only about one hour, but they will line up opposite one another more than 12,400km away from Sydney at Allegiant Stadium in one of two opening-round games that will be played during the NRL’s second expedition to Las Vegas.

The match will be Trindall’s 72nd as an NRL player, having become both a Sharks regular and one of the premier halves in the competition in 2024.

The Cronulla men are looking red-hot going into the new season and are eager to go a step further than they did last year.

They placed fourth on the table and went down against Melbourne Storm in week one of finals before winning their first post-season match in more than six years the following week over the North Queensland Cowboys.

However, eventual premiers Penrith ended their season in week three of the finals with a 26-6 rout.

The Sharks have added prop Addin Fonua-Blake from the New Zealand Warriors to their side this year, and a near-full season with Trindall and Nicho Hynes in the halves in 2024 will only benefit them heading into the new campaign.

Cronulla were at full strength last Thursday night when they travelled to Canberra’s GIO Stadium to challenge the Raiders in a pre-season game and they looked sharp as they won 40-10.

The hosts went up 10-0 early after Ethan Strange and Sebastian Kris both crossed for tries inside the first 12 minutes, the first of which Jamal Fogarty converted.

The Sharks then hit back in the 24th minute and it was a Trindall bomb that sparked it as he lobbed the ball high and winger Ronaldo Mulitalo batted it back to Hynes close to the line.

The halfback converted the try after scooping up the ball and running five metres to go in untouched, and the Sharks equalised three minutes out from half-time when Hynes threw a perfect cutout pass to winger Sam Stonestreet who scored in the corner.

Trindall took over the goal-kicking duties from that point of the match and he slotted his first attempt from the sideline to send the Sharks into half-time with a 12-10 lead.

The Sharks piled on three tries in the first 10 minutes of the second stanza, all of which Trindall converted, to make the score 30-10.

Fonua-Blake stormed through the Canberra defence for the first of those before the Wee Waa boy worked his magic to score the second and set up the third with another bomb that Jesse Ramien was the beneficiary of.

The Sharks pulled their key men off towards the end of the game but they managed to run in two more tries through Tuku Hau Tapuha and Chris Vea’ila, one of which Daniel Atkinson converted, as they ran away to a 30-point win.

Cronulla’s round one match against the Penrith Panthers will be played from 3.30pm (AEDT) on March 2 and will follow the match between the Raiders and Warriors that kicks off the new campaign from 11am (AEDT).

There will be two other matches played that day as English sides Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves go head-to-head, and the Australian Jillaroos face off against the England women’s team.

The Courier will be running an NRL Business House Challenge and a reader tipster challenge once again in 2025. See page 2 of today’s paper for more details.