Sharks, Lions set up blockbuster grand final rematch with impressive wins

The two traditional powerhouses played out one of the great deciders last season, the Lions prevailing 12-10 in a September war.

This weekend's clash at Michael Cronin Oval will be their first meeting since, and the Sharks will arrive in form after blowing out Kiama 46-4 at Ron Costello Oval.

The Lions did it tougher, prevailing 18-4 against a game Albion Park, leaving them and the Sharks the only two sides yet to surrender a competition point this season.

Shellharbour coach Abed Atallah said a broken run through a rain-plagued beginning to the season makes it hard to truly gauge how is side is travelling - but the Lions at Gerringong is always a fair measuring stick.

"It's hard because it has been stop-start with the weather and not being able to train properly," Atallah said.

"We're just trying to still build combinations and and get that happening. To be honest with you, we're just taking it week by week at the moment.

"We've got Gerringong next week at Gerringong so it doesn't get any tougher than that. That's what we'll work towards now.

"Last year's last year, it doesn't mean too much when the new season starts.

"Our focus is only on now, but it'll definitely be another level, especially down there."

Kiama were well in the contest for much of the opening 40, with the hosts leading 6-4 with just 12 minutes to play before the break.

It proved the pivotal period of the game, with Brandon Webster-Mansfield grabbing the first of two tries when he plucked a cross-field kick from Jacob Seabrook out of the air to cross untouched.

Webster-Mansfield was in the action again when he charged down a Tom Murray kick and raced upfield for what proved the Sharks third try through Wayde Aitken just minutes later.

The hosts looked certain to cross twice more before the siren only for the final pass to hit the turf with the line wide open, keeping the margin to just 12 at the interval.

It proved a stay of execution for the visitors, with Bailey Wallace slicing them open through the middle and putting Emanuel Sultana over under the black dot not long after the resumption.

It was one way traffic from there, with Webster-Mansfield and Ryan James completing their respective doubles before time was out.

Amid the flood of points, there was no moment more decisive than Atallah injecting Josh Starling and Jayden Morgan from the bench alongside Wallace 17 minutes into the match.

It proved a momentum-shifter before Bryce Magone, Matt Nicholson and Brody Rigg returned the keep the Sharks foot firmly to the floor.

"I thought our starting middles started really well, there was just a lot of errors and a lot of penalties in the game and it didn't really get that flow on," Atallah said.

"When Starlo and Morgo came on together, I think they had that opportunity where there was a little bit more flow in the game and they really put a dent in them.

"Kiama's always up for a contest, we know that. It was never going to be an easy game and the scoreboard probably doesn't reflect how tough it was out there.

"We really pride ourselves on our defence and there were a couple of times there we had some back to back sets on our line and then found ourselves 90 metres down the field scoring a try.

"We went towards the end there and that was really impressive to see. Kiama's good team, they're going to fight to the death, so we had to make sure that we did too."

Elsewhere in round seven, visiting Nowra-Bomaderry handed Jamberoo a 28-6 defeat on Saturday, while on Sunday Milton-Ulladulla saw off Stingrays 26-14 at home and Warilla ran 60 unanswered points past Berry at Cec Glenholmes Oval.