‘In your face’: why Sharks welcome Bulldog animosity
George Clarke |
Cronulla’s spiteful early-season clash with Canterbury has not been forgotten by the Sharks, with winger Ronaldo Mulitalo eager to fight fire with fire and get under the Bulldogs’ skin.
After Brisbane beat Melbourne on Thursday, the Sharks cannot make the top four with a victory in Saturday’s meeting with Canterbury, their first since an ill-tempered 20-6 Bulldogs win in March.
But that does not mean there are no old scores to settle following that night earlier in the season, when the antics of Canterbury hooker Reed Mahoney provoked the Sharks and divided opinion across the NRL.
Mahoney was front and centre that night, with a flop and a swinging arm sparking one of several melees.
And although Mahoney has tended to come off the bench through the back half of 2025, the Sharks know the rough-and-ready Bulldogs side will give them a perfect pre-finals hit-out.
“I love giving it to them, they love giving it to me,” Mulitalo said.
“It’s part of the theatre of the game. That’s what fans want to see, a bit of personality and something different.
“There’s no point in us all being robots, that’s a boring game.
“You want to pay for entertainment, and that’s us showing it means something to us.”
Mulitalo was one of the first players to rush to the defence of his Sharks teammates when Mahoney sparked one of several skirmishes in round four.
The New Zealand Test winger is welcoming more spotfires, claiming the Dogs’ wind-up antics encourage him to go to another level.
“I think people tend to get it wrong, I love playing Reed – he gets the best out of me,” Mulitalo said.
“That’s the style of footy I like to play, in-your-face type, and that battle is just another way of the game being played and I enjoy that.”
Mulitalo said the third-placed Bulldogs will meet a more battle-hardened Sharks side this week.
Cronulla, who have secured a home elimination final for week one of the finals and will face either Penrith or the Sydney Roosters, have won six of their past seven games.
“When the game (earlier in the season) got hard they got closer, and that’s what the game is all about,” Mulitalo said.
“We’re not expecting anything different this week.
“They’re always a good team to come up against, and it’s been a good little rivalry that’s developed the last couple of years I’ve played against them.”
AAP
