A vintage performance from skipper Paul Gallen has inspired Cronulla to a thrilling 9-8 comeback NRL win over Canterbury in front of their biggest home crowd in half a decade.
Gallen twice came up with critical plays to set up Saturday night's victory, including a 25-metre run in the lead-up to Chad Townsend's 78th-minute field goal that broke an 8-8 deadlock.
He also turned the game when, with his team down by six points with 13 minutes to play, he picked up a grubber in-goal and just managed to force his way back into the field of play.
Three plays later, Gerard Beale finished off a 50-metre movement, with Valentine Holmes' conversion setting up a grandstand finish for the sellout crowd of 20,497.
Gallen, playing in his first club game during State of Origin since 2010, finished with a team-high 181 metres and three tackle breaks in the absence of the Sharks' four NSW stars.
"Two really big plays in particular that he pulled off for us. Having Gal back during this period, we got something out of him tonight - that's for sure," Sharks coach Shane Flanagan said.
"He's at a stage in his career where he's quit Origin. He's still good enough to play there but he's made a decision that it's time to give someone else a crack.
"That's hard for Gal. I know he wants to be there on Wednesday night - not sitting in the grandstand either. But it is what it is and we reap the benefit of that today."
The victory extends Cronulla's winning streak to three and consolidates their top-four spot, while the defeat for the Bulldogs is compounded by a neck injury to skipper James Graham.
In an evenly contested opening 40 minutes, Cronulla started the brightest and took a 2-0 lead with a Holmes penalty goal in the eighth minute.
Aided by the opening five penalties, the Sharks dominated the early battle but were held tryless in the first half for the second straight week by a stingy Bulldogs defence.
Not even the loss of Graham midway through the period deterred the determination of the visitors, who nabbed the only try of the half through Brenko Lee on the 26-minute mark.
The former Canberra centre stepped sharply off his right foot to change the angle on a Moses Mbye pass and help set up a 6-2 lead at the break.
Bulldogs prop Aiden Tolman was arguably his side's best, playing the entire 80 minutes in the absence of Graham and finished with 120 metres and 44 tackles.
Bulldogs coach Des Hasler said the one set after Gallen's effort was the difference in the game.
"It can be a cruel game, can't it? But probably one set there in the second half which was pretty crucial. I think it was a 100m set," he said.
"And probably our kicking game was ineffective in that second half there, but that's all it was. I thought, for most parts of the game, I thought we competed better."
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