The Brisbane Broncos have piled on the misery for the Cronulla Sharks with an impressive 29-6 victory in front of more than 27,000 fans at Suncorp Stadium.
The warning signs of a disastrous night for the Sharks were on show before the game even started when the visitors lost Josh Dugan to a hamstring injury in the warm-up. The Broncos on the other hand looked set for a good night as they started well and were able to attack first when debutant Ronaldo Mulitalo dropped a kick from Anthony Milford.
Brisbane's first try came just inside the 10 minute mark when Corey Oates charged at the line after the Broncos got two consecutive penalties. Oates' try came when he ran straight through a gap on the angle through some disjointed defence to score. The second Broncos try came when Ronaldo Mulitalo dropped a pinpoint perfect bomb and the Sharks defence couldn't get set quick enough to stop Alex Glenn out of dummy half.
Cronulla weren't able to get any momentum as they continued to be stuck inside their own 20 before the Broncos elected to take a penalty goal after getting their third penalty goal to go 14-0 up. The Sharks night continued to get worse when Shaun Johnson had to leave the field with a hamstring injury. The Broncos added another try on the half-hour mark when Joe Ofahengaue barged his way over and scored, Isaako's conversion gave the Broncos a 20-0 lead. On the stroke of half-time, Anthony Milford gave the Broncos an extra point when he potted a field goal to take them to 21-0 leaders at half time.
The second half was a very scrappy affair with both sides struggling to control the ball and although it was the Broncos who dominated field position, both sides only managed one try each in the second half. The Broncos pestered the Sharks line but could only crack it once and that came when James Roberts broke through an awful tackle attempt from Josh Morris to score. The try came not long after the Broncos had a try knocked back when Matt Gillett couldn't ground a loose ball in the in-goal.
The Sharks' only try of the game came when Chad Townsend put in a kick deliberately aimed in at the goal post and Jayden Brailey was on the spot to clean it up. The bunker though gave it a forensic inspection to make sure Will Kennedy didn't touch the ball in the lead-up and the all clear was given and the try awarded. The Broncos finished the point scoring of the night after taking a simple penalty goal when Chad Townsend's dropout failed to go the required 10m. The penalty goal meant that the Broncos took a 29-6 lead.
Next weekend, the Broncos have a trip to ANZ Stadium to take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs whilst the Cronulla Sharks don't get any easier battles as they play host to the Melbourne Storm next weekend.