Cronulla Sharks boosted their top eight hopes with a 36-6 win over Gold Coast Titans at Shark Park on Friday night.
The Sharks did most of their damage in the first half and led 20-6 at the break. Ronaldo Mulitalo highlighted the win with a double alongside rare four-pointers from Cameron McInnes and Wade Graham in the first half as they move into the top four.
Sharks flew out of the gates and opened the scoring inside five minutes. They ran it on last which ended up with Ronaldo Mulitalo diving over in the corner to make it 4-0.
The hosts doubled their delight with a long range effort. It was swung to the right which gave Jesse Ramien the space to roam, he positioned fullback Connor Tracey to stroll over.
Titans struck back through their newly minted forward. Tino Fa'asuamaleaui went through a huge gap and bounced over to celebrate his decade-long contract with the Gold Coast side.
The Titans thought they had levelled things up through Phillip Sami but it was called back for a forward pass. Sharks got back into their action and put Mulitalo over for his second to make it 14-6.
Sharks piled on the misery just before the break. Blayke Brailey took it to the line and found a charging Cameron McInnes who went over from close range for a rare four-pointer.
Titans came out of the break and felt just fine. Keano Kini thought he might have scored but it was ruled an error by the bunker then Sharks piled on the misery with a Wade Graham scoring on the left.
Both teams had tries chalked off by the bunker in a tight second half. David Fifita won the aerial battled but was judged to have bobbled it then Connor Tracey was guilty of a double movement for the Sharks.
The Sharks went on with the job and added their sixth try of the night. Popular forward Toby Rudolf steamed over from close range to make it 32-6 and help boost their for and against.
Things went from bad to worse for the Titans when Erin Clark was sin binned for a strike. They defended valiantly until late when Ramien was on the end of a hot potato passage in the corner.