Farcical sin binning of Jaydn Su’A hammers Dragons for second straight week as Sharks score twice

Last week Penrith jumped out to an early lead when Jaydn Su’A was controversially sin-binned – and lightning has struck the Dragons twice, with the hard-hitting forward getting marched under highly dubious circumstances once more against the Sharks on Thursday night.

Su’A whacked Dale Finucane with a hard and marginally high shot in the 16th minute, with referee Gerard Sutton giving him 10 minutes when the hit only warranted a penalty and being put on report.

Cronulla put on two tries while he was off the field in an infuriating echo of the Dragons’ first half against the Panthers in round two, when Penrith whacked on 14 quick-fire points while Su’A cooled his heels on the sidelines.

Jaydn Su’A (No12) was controversially sin-binned for the second consecutive week

The Dragons forward was sent to the bin against Penrith last week in a 20-16 loss

Conditions at Wollongong’s WIN Stadium are atrocious, with swirling winds driving the heavy rain in sideways, so points will be at a premium – and Sutton’s awful call could prove decisive.

To add insult to injury, Siosifa Talakai went over for a try in the 37th minute after leaping high to take a bomb just shy of the goal line and give Cronulla a 16-0 lead in the shadow of halftime.

The Dragons forward whacked Dale Finucane with a hard shot in the 16th minute

St. George Illawarra lost Su’A to a controversial sin-bin against the Panthers 

Gorden Tallis and Benji Marshall said Penrith halfback Sean O’Sullivan (above) ‘milked’ the tackle that resulted in the Dragons forward being sin-binned

The Sharks’ first two tries came when Sione Katoa finished off a smart sweeping move to the right, then Matt Ikavalu crashed over on the left just minutes after giving fans a fright when he looked like he’d picked up a serious ankle injury.

Craig Fitzgibbon’s men, coming off a thrilling victory over Parramatta courtesy of Nicho Hynes’ after-the-siren conversion, racked up four line breaks to nil in the first 40 minutes, ran for more than 250 metres more than the Dragons and beat their opponents’ marks for offloads, kick return metres and tackle breaks.