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George Clarke

Sharks cop Finucane blow in Raiders loss

Raiders players celebrate the try of Corey Harawira-Naera during their defeat of Cronulla. (AAP)

Dale Finucane is in serious doubt for Origin I after suffering concussion and a knee injury in Cronulla's 30-10 loss to Canberra on Sunday.

Finucane went off in the 55th minute at Suncorp Stadium after a collision with Canberra's Elliot Whitehead.

The Sharks lock pinballed off Raiders prop Josh Papalii and his head clattered into Whitehead's shoulder, with the Canberra second rower sent to the sin bin by referee Liam Kennedy.

The concussion was Finucane's fourth in the last 12 months and he didn't return to the match, at the NRL's Magic Round in Brisbane.

A more immediate concern will be the knee injury he picked up, likely to rule him out of Origin I on June 8. Finucane limped out of the changing rooms wearing a protective brace.

"My knee gave way a bit and it felt fine," said Finucane, who will head for scans on Monday.

"It was hard to do all the (concussion) testing because a lot of it relies on balance and because I had that give in my knee, I lacked stability in my head.

"The cognitive stuff was fine.

"It (Origin) wasn't something I've given a lot of consideration to. It hasn't been a focus of mine, it's purely been playing well for the Sharks."

Finucane's injury isn't the only concern for Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon, with young forward Jack Williams suffering a shoulder injury in the defeat.

Cronulla were well below their best on Sunday and the Raiders were only too happy to make them pay.

Nicho Hynes shifted to fullback after starting the year in the halves and he and winger Sione Katoa were at fault for the Raiders' opening three tries.

Sebastian Kris, Papalii and Corey Harawira-Naera all crossed amid the whitewash in the opening 30 minutes and young halfback Brad Schneider added a penalty to put the Raiders 20-0 up.

As well as the sin-bin for Whitehead, Canberra fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and prop Corey Horsburgh were given 10 minutes on the sideline for professional fouls.

It meant the Raiders played the best part of 30 minutes with 12 men, and at one point when Horsburgh and Whitehead's dismissals overlapped they were reduced to 11.

Cronulla's only tries - a finish in the corner from Katoa and a barge-over from Royce Hunt - came when the Raiders were a man down

"I know what's inside that jumper and we saw that tonight," said Canberra coach Ricky Stuart.

"I was very proud of that effort. It was courageous, we played well and kicked better."

One of the highlights for the Green Machine was the debut of 25-year-old Zac Woolford.

The son of Raiders favourite Simon only joined the club in the last month and was handed a late call-up after Adam Elliott was ruled out with illness.

He started at hooker and combined well with Schneider in his second stint before Hudson Young pushed the Raiders further ahead in the dying stages.

"They gave us a few chances but our execution was off," said Fitzgibbon.

"It felt like they found a bit more want and attitude than we had.

"We just couldn't find a way to get going."

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