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The Warriors beat the 22-10 Eels at Mt Smart, while the Storm lost their unbeaten record, going down 11-2 in a gritty affair to Cronulla.
Sharks see off Storm in terrible conditions in Melbourne
Cronulla have climbed to third on the NRL ladder after a tense 11-2 victory over the Melbourne Storm at a wet AAMI Park.
The defending premiers relied on tough defence to outlast the Storm in a rematch of the 2016 grand final in the tricky conditions.
The Sharks let an error-prone Melbourne off the hook in the opening half by failing to capitalise on a number of scoring opportunities but finished over the top of the home side with 11 unanswered points in the second half.
James Maloney kicked a field goal in the 70th minute to break a two-all deadlock before James Segeyaro swooped on a kick that was mishandled by Billy Slater to touch down under the posts and seal the result.
The Sharks have now won three straight matches, ending the Storm's unbeaten opening to the season in the process.
The visitors handled the slippery conditions better than the hosts in the opening ten minutes with the Storm coughing up possession three times in the Sharks' half.
A Melbourne handling error close to their own line looked to gift the Sharks the opening try but the play was called back for a differential penalty against Cronulla at the scrum.
It took some Cooper Cronk brilliance to set up Melbourne's first scoring opportunity with a 40-20 putting the Storm deep in Sharks territory. A high tackle from James Maloney on Billy Slater subsequently allowed Cameron Smith to kick the opening points of the match.
A Suliasi Vunivalu error near the Storm line handed then handed Cronulla another golden opportunity to score but Jack Bird's final pass to Gerard Beale floated forward with the winger on a clear path to the line.
The Storm made a strong opening to the second half with Slater's long run and a spilt high ball from Valentine Holmes putting the Sharks on the back foot.
Gritty defence from the Sharks held out the home side and another error from the Storm allowed Maloney to level the scores with a penalty goal in the 56th minute.
The Storm pressured the Sharks' line but could not find the target with their kicking game, allowing the Sharks to claim victory in the final ten minutes.
AAP
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Foran stars as Warriors beat Eels
Star five-eighth Kieran Foran's influence was again to the fore as the Warriors made it two NRL wins in a row by holding out Parramatta 22-10 in Auckland.
Facing the club he left prematurely in the middle of last season to deal with personal issues, Foran set up two of the Warriors' four tries.
It was his big break and pass in the 62nd minute that sent winger Ken Maumalo over for the score that pushed the home side out to a 20-10 lead after the Eels had dominated after half-time.
After a quiet start in which he didn't touch the ball until the 14th minute, Foran also produced the deft pass in the 32nd minute that sent lock Simon Mannering across for the Warriors' go-ahead try.
The win on Sunday lifted the Warriors to 3-3 for the season, but the loss was the Eels' fourth in a row after starting the year with two victories.
Parramatta opened the scoring midway through the opening half, back-to-back penalties setting up field position for lock Nathan Brown to dot down under the posts.
But the Warriors turned the match around with three tries in 10 minutes.
Second rower Bodene Thompson got the first from a sixth-tackle scramble, before Mannering scored off Foran's slick intrusion.
Thompson crossed again five minutes from halftime to hand the home side a 16-6 lead.
The Eels narrowed the gap early in the second half, second rower Manu Ma'u's offload with three tacklers on him keeping the ball alive for winger Josh Hoffman to score.
Five-eighth Corey Norman then touched down, but the Warriors got a reprieve with the try rubbed out for obstruction.
Foran's bust for Maumalo's try gave the home side breathing room to close out the game.
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Topics: nrl, rugby-league, sport
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