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Courtesy of Foxsports
Kimmorley answers critics
PINT-SIZED halfback Brett Kimmorley stood tall to give Test selectors a not so subtle reminder, inspiring Cronulla to a gutsy upset NRL win over Canberra at Toyota Park tonight.
The incumbent Australian No.7 has been under pressure from Penrith's Craig Gower to hold his place for the April 23 clash against New Zealand after Cronulla slumped to the bottom of the ladder (1-4 record) and was reeling from a fortnight of headlines for the all the wrong reasons.
But Kimmorley gave a timely reminder of his skills before selectors announce the Test side tomorrow in a performance succinctly summed up by a shellshocked Raiders coach Matthew Elliott.
"One team turned up with boilersuits on and one team turned up with Armani suits on and the Armani suits were a nice lime green tonight," Elliott said referring to Canberra's green uniform.
Kimmorley, one of the smallest on ground at 172cm, stood head and shoulders above the Raiders, lending a hand in three of the Sharks' six tries and kicking seven goals from eight attempts to put Cronulla's season back on track.
It was a remarkable effort from a side that had turned up to Toyota Park on the bottom of the ladder and reeling from suspensions to pivot Greg Bird (10 weeks) and prized recruit Nigel Vagana (one week) and the injury enforced withdrawal of impact forward Chris Beattie (concussion).
Kimmorley seemed the most surprised by his rekindled kicking prowess that no doubt made Test selectors take notice.
"I didn't practice all week, I had a sore leg on Tuesday, maybe that's the secret...and there's always a goal kicking halfback in the Test side so...," Kimmorley laughed.
"It (Test selection) was in the back of my mind, the last few weeks have been probably fairly ordinary for my own case.
"I thought the best way to put a good case up was to have a good game tonight, and I've done a great job for them (Australia) in the past when I have played for them so all I can do is wait."
In contrast to Kimmorley, Canberra fullback and Test hopeful Clinton Schifcofske who needed just six points to be one of only 20 players to have notched 1200 career points had a shocking night with the boot, kicking just two from five.
Elliott said he needed to take responsibility after his side looked like it had not returned from its last round bye.
"If it was a couple of people under par I could absolve responsibility but what happened was the whole team was under par so I've got to seriously look at what I did in preparation this week and look at how we handle coming off byes," he said.
"That's probably our poorest performance in two years."
To make matters worse for the Raiders, forward Ruben Wiki was reported for a 52nd minute high shot on Sharks prop Jason Stevens, placing him in doubt for the Kiwi side to take on Australia at Newcastle.
The Sharks led 24-12 at halftime thanks to a stunning double by fullback David Peachey in the space of three minutes.
Kimmorley then landed the killer blow just two minutes into the second stanza when he dummied and set up winger David Simmons to score, blowing the deficit out to 30-12 before potting a penalty for the Wiki tackle to make it 32-12.
Only late consolation tries to winger Joel Monaghan and Mark McLinden saved Canberra from complete embarrassment.
CRONULLA SHARKS 38 (D Peachey 2 D Simmons R McGoldrick M Rieck P Gallen tries; B Kimmorley 7 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 24 (J Evans A Mogg M Robertson J Monaghan M McLinden tries; C Schifcofske 2 goals) at Toyota Park. Referee: Tony Archer. Crowd: 9225.
