A clinical display has seen the Cronulla Sharks continue their unbeaten run to start the SG Ball season, proving too strong for the West Coast Pirates by 78-0 at Southern Cross Group Stadium.
The one-sided affair was the Sharks’ sixth consecutive win, keeping their perfect record intact and their position at the top of the ladder safe for another week.
On the flip-side, it was the Pirates sixth successive loss, leaving them anchored to the bottom of the ladder.
They can take solace in the fact that their defensive effort in the second half was much improved, conceding just 24 points, and testing the Sharks defence with a few sets on their line.
Halfback Luke Metcalf was again the star, scoring two tries and setting up another three, along with six goals to take his personal tally to 20 points.
His halves partner Jaeman Salmon was right in the thick of action as well, finishing with a hat-trick and assisting in two more for his side.
Front-rowers Fine Kula and James Roumanos laid the platform for the halves to work their magic, coming up with several strong bursts to get the home side on the front foot and leave the defence reeling.
The win was cemented early on, with a 54-0 point first half not giving the visitors a chance. After receiving the opening kick-off, the Pirates would be starved of possession for over ten consecutive minutes, a sign of just how dominant this Sharks side can be.
Opening points came in just the second minute of play, when Metcalf burst through the Pirates, defensive line, finding Bronson Xerri on his outside, who laid the final pass onto fullback Dylan Smith to score under the posts.
That pressure was compounded when Kula made a strong burst off the kick-off, earning a penalty in the play-the-ball in the process. From this repeat set, it was again Metcalf who proved too elusive for the Pirates, setting up winger Harrison Demeio in the corner.
The lead rose again moments later when Xerri found space on the outside of his marker, scoring a simple try in the corner to give Cronulla a 16-0 advantage after just nine minutes.
Salmon had his first score involvement inside 15 minutes, executing a beautiful hit-and-spin on the last tackle of the set to put his centre Ronaldo Mulitalo over with ease.
From the next set, Salmon had his first four-pointer of the game, backing up Metcalf who made a simple line-break to set him up untouched, extending the lead to 28-0 after 14 minutes.
The Pirates managed to hold the Sharks for the next few minutes, finding themselves with a rare set of six in possession of the ball, however it was Metcalf that extended the lead in the 21st minute, following up a break from Smith to waltz in.
Second-rower Teig Wilton wanted a piece of the action, and his prowess on the left edge was too much for the visitors to handle, scoring his first try off a determined run close to the line, and his second in the following set through a brilliant short ball from Salmon.
Metcalf helped stretch the lead even further when he showed some outstanding footwork and sold a dummy to pick up his second try, before Salmon put the icing on the cake on the stroke of half-time, sending the Sharks into the sheds up 54-0.
An early penalty saw the Sharks start the second half in great field position, and it was Salmon again who came up with the show and go to weave his way through the line, scoring without a hand being laid on him.
The defence from the Pirates stepped up from this point, as they managed to hold the Sharks out for a 10-minute period, and were even able to build pressure, earning themselves numerous repeat sets. The Cronulla defence was staunch though, a clear indication of how much they wanted to keep their opponents scoreless.
A break in the 46th minute by Franklin Pele saw the big man looking destined to score before a tremendous tackle in the last line of defence by Pirates centre Bowman Stein prevented another try. It proved to be all in vein however, with the Sharks rolling through a tired defence on the next play, with Mulitalo picking up his second.
Following on soon from this, a backline movement highlighted by a sublimely timed pass from Smith saw Isaac Longmuir crash over off the final pass from Mulitalo.
Another imposing backline play saw Smith again set up his teammates, with Mulitalo the recipient on this occasion, securing his hat-trick after 53 minutes.
An unlucky sin-binning for a professional foul was a cruel blow for Pirates fullback Kade McDonald, who had been trying hard all game in a well-beaten side.
The Pirates only conceded just one try to Jack Gould while they had 12 men on the field, the only points scored in the final 17 minutes of the game.
The result sets up a mouth-watering encounter with third-placed Penrith next week in Cronulla, who they could potentially meet in the finals series.
West Coast will look to post their first win of the season when they head home to Ken Allen Field to host the Western Sydney Academy, a team that has one just the one game so far.
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