Overview

• Cronulla beat Newcastle 40-16, highlighted by a Ronaldo Mulitalo hat-trick that secured at least a home elimination final and preserved a conditional path to fourth.
• The Sharks can finish fourth only if Brisbane lose to Melbourne on Thursday and Cronulla then defeat Canterbury on Saturday.
• Playmaker Braydon Trindall rolled his left ankle and will undergo an MRI after leaving with ice applied, and fullback Will Kennedy was placed on report for a high shot on Jack Cogger.
• The result effectively locked in the top six and strengthened the likelihood of more finals hosted in Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland, with the prospect of no week-one games in Sydney still in play.
• The Dolphins stayed in ninth with a 36-30 win over the Titans and need the Roosters to lose to South Sydney plus a combined margin swing of at least 16 points, then a win over Canberra, to clinch eighth.