NRL Almanac – Newfound financial freedom

Making ends meet can be difficult at times. The reasons for this scenario presenting itself can be many and varied. Perhaps you're a university student with little by way of income sources. Perhaps the arrival of a little bundle of joy put the squeeze on mortgage payments and the family budget. Or perhaps you have a business venture that is barely treading water, desperately searching for that one big deal that will put you on a secure financial footing. Like it or not, even those who are exceptional at compartmentalising parts of their life can find such issues pervading their subconscious and affecting other aspects of their life, if only indirectly.

Anyone who has experienced such testing times and come out the other side probably remembers the feeling when the 'storm clouds' lifted, and what effect it had on their attitude to other aspects of life improved simultaneously. When a part-time job or scholarship provided enough income to keep things ticking over; when a promotion and pay rise made the impending bills much easier to handle; or maybe when a long-debated $300 million land development was approved and gave your 45-year-old rugby league club a new financial lease on life.

Within the space of a week, Cronulla had secured both a place in the finals and their financial viability for the foreseeable future. As other clubs had successfully merged (St George and Illawarra; Balmain and Western Suburbs), unsuccessfully merged (Manly and North Sydney), been lost to the competition and come back again (South Sydney) over the past decade and a half, Cronulla stuck it out alone. Neither premiership glory nor financial security found their way to the shire. If the Sharks were a university student, two-minute noodles would have been a staple of their diet for many, many years.

The announcements of the previous days brought with them a new horizon and a related question – after years of dealing with adversity, how would Cronulla deal with (likely) prosperity?

The Cowboys fan in me hoped they would take at least one weekend to figure it out. The Canberra resident in me was of the same view, with the prospect of driving for a mere handful of minutes to attend a finals match at Canberra Stadium next weekend certainly worthy of my support.

As it panned out, the Sharks did look like a side that were still grappling with their newfound position.

The opening 20 minutes were scrappy from both sides, while the remainder of the first half was not one for defensive purists, with tries traded frequently to bring about an 18-12 halftime lead for the visitors. After a Paul Gallen try early in the second half, minutes 45 to 60 were dominated by the Townsville boys, as they posted three tries to break the game apart and skip out to a 34-16 lead. The final minutes failed to pull the match's defensive intensity out of the mire, and while the Cowboys will be thankful to enter the finals in winning form, some work is left to be done before hosting the Broncos on Saturday night.

As for the Sharks, they will make a trip to Canberra to take on the in-form (and seemingly footloose and fancy free) Raiders in what may be the toughest game of the opening finals week to predict – beware the team with one less worry on their mind these days.

North Queensland 36 (Graham 2, Cooper, Tate, Segeyaro, Taumalolo tries; Thurston 6/7 goals)

Cronulla 22 (Best, De Gois, Gallen, Fifita tries; Carney 3/4 goals)

Crowd: 16,829

Votes: 3- Brent Tate (NQ), 2- Paul Gallen (Cro), 1- Ashley Graham (NQ)

Thanks to Ryan Pierse/Getty Images AsiaPac for use of the photo