Cronulla’s Brookvale Oval hoodoo has continued, after they were thumped 24-4 at the iconic venue by Manly on Sunday.
In an emphatic response to their poor effort against Wests Tigers last week, the Sea Eagles blew Cronulla off the park early in the NRL round six fixture and the Sharks never recovered.
The visitors have now won just five games in 37 starts at Brookvale.
Jorge Taufua was almost unstoppable in the first half in his first game of the year after recovering from a shoulder injury, as he put up his hand for a place in Laurie Daley’s NSW side.
A Taufua bust laid on Steve Matai’s opener in the third minute and then he scored one himself in the 21st minute with Brett Stewart throwing the final pass.
In between Brenton Lawrence scored his own four-pointer after racing 25m after latching onto a looping Stewart pass.
Taufau’s try put the home side ahead 16-0. Matai then added to that for his double, his fourth of the year, in the 33rd minute
The game was all but over in the 54th minute when Peta Hiku crossed after toeing ahead a Stewart offload, putting the Sea Eagles ahead 24-0.
Hiku moved onto the right wing for Taufua with former Kangaroos flyer David Williams dropped.
Glenn Stewart was solid in his return from an ankle problem as the game deteriorated as a spectacle the later it got into the second half.
Todd Carney was disappointing for the Sharks as he looked to put his State of Origin claims forward, while Andrew Fifita also struggled.
Cronulla have won just one of their first six games, a 37-6 round five defeat of the troubled Warriors.
The Sharks finally registered on the scoreboard when Wade Graham grounded a Jeff Robson kick that Hiku failed to grab in the 80th minute.
Sir Jamie Lyon
Guest
Manly to strong. Carney was woeful. And the standard of reffing is terrible. How many non forward passes were called forward? Same in every game they ruin and decide matches
Sleemo
Guest
Mate, you've made it clear that you hate Manly, you believe every game they win is because the refs have rigged it and not because they deserved it, how bout you just admit you're incapable of giving an honest fair unbiased assessment of any game they play in and leave the discussion to the people who actually care about the footy.
fishes
Guest
Poor refereeing, too.
fishes
Guest
I agree.there is no point watching with amateur refereeing like that. I've never seen anything like it in any sport. terrible, terrible refereeing. probably the worst i've seen. sharks would have lost anyway but it doesn't make it right.
Edward Kelly
Guest
What was up with Carney? Perhaps he has been watching too much "Walking Dead". He was a zombie out there.
Tom
Guest
I finished work just near Brookvale at 4pm yesterday, so a workmate and I sauntered over hoping to catch the last 25 minutes. I was told that I couldn't buy a ticket, nor would they open the gates after half time, despite the fact the hill was half full. Petty nonsense like this does the game no favours. Why on earth can't you get into the game after half time?
Haz
Guest
The crowd was small, a bit under 10k. The rain an hour beforehand, and torrential downpour half an hour beforehand probably turned away a lot of punters. Thankfully, the rain cleared off right on kick-off.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Yeah those two mistakes by the refs were pretty poor and both led to tries however the Sharks weren't good enough anyway. That was the worst performance i've seen by any side this year and the game itself was probably the worst i've witnessed so far this season as well. Just horrible all round - should delete all footage of the match...
BA Sports
Guest
You could see the result after five minutes. Sharks were not interested and looked hopelessly out of their depth. So when the Sea Eagles second try came a tackle after Glenn Stewart clearly knocked on, and their third try came one tackle after the scrum Manly were given despite Lyon clearly knocking on, it was clear how the day was going to pan out, so i flicked over and watched some AFL.
Ronald M
Guest
I agree with much of that but poor opposition in poor conditions rarely brings the best out of a team. Firstly it is too easy and then they tend to back peddle as Manly clearly did in the second half.
Renegade
Roar Guru
Tipped Manly to win yesterday which is 1 of the 2 I've got right this week ;) lol This was a really poor game though, conditions aside it didn't make for pleasant viewing. The Sharks were woeful, that was probably their worst performance so far this season.... injuries, conditions, headlines aside - they need to lift their game or their season will be over before it starts. Manly did enough to win as usual, but were pretty bad themselves yesterday.
Walter Penninger
Roar Guru
Manly clearly out played them, nothing to do with Brookvale where the crowd looked small.
Ronald M
Guest
They shouldn't have even scored that last gasp try. Clearly Manly were already celebrating their win and let these muppets in for one. It just goes to show how bad the Warriors were last week. I know it was weak opposition but congratulations to Manly on the win all the same.