Top eight hopefuls taught cruel lesson at home by a snappy Sharks side

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Gold Coast Titans v Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks

A game pivotal for finals hopes that didn't go as expected 

The Gold Coast Titans were clear favourites as they hosted the Cronulla Sharks off the back of a convincing win against cross town rivals Brisbane Broncos only a week prior. The Sharks had a makeshift spine and were significantly down on troops, and few gave them much hope of finding a win.

Still, it was Blayke Brailey, named at halfback but playing as dummy half who helped the visitors break through the cracks in only the fifth minute, with a precise short ball to Royce Hunt who crashed over the line with ease. 6-0 down early, the Titans held strong and went set for set and looked to play an expansive brand of football. Ultimately, they took it a step too far with a Kieran Foran pass going to ground, with Sharks winger Sam Stonestreet scoping it up with glee and running 60m to score. 15 minutes in. 12-0 to Cronulla.

After that, a notable shift in attitudes was apparent, with Gold Coast dejected and Cronulla up and firing. The visitors scored three more tries in the space of 10 minutes, partially thanks to a pivotal sin binning of Titans forward Mo Fotuaika for a dangerous high tackle. It was Brailey and Nikora who dominated this phase of play, with crafty short passes and threatening runs which the 12-manned Titans had no answers for.

Finally, at 30-0 after conceding a point for every minute played thus far, the Titans found some attacking groove to close out their first half. Jayden Campbell and Keano Kini were nifty and tried all their flashy footwork to get past the Sharks defence. Gold Coast threw everything and the kitchen sink at Cronulla, but it still wasn't enough. They went into the break scoreless, heads down with nothing to show for a plethora of repeat sets.

Undoubtedly Des Hasler would have had words for his squad at half time, and admittedly Gold Coast did show some fighting spirit… for about 7 minutes. Dangerous centre, Kayal Iro made a break and put Stonestreet through in the corner to score his second for the night, and the scoresheet looked like getting even uglier. 

The Titans kick defence let them down once again, and it feels like I'm just repeating myself because it was yet another try to the Sharks, this time to Briton Nikora after he set one up earlier in the night. At 40-0, the match was well and truly done but with a few lucky penalties, the Titans had some good possession and chances to put some points on the board.

They forced dropouts and were gifted set restarts right on the line, running plays and threading kicks through in the hope they'd amount to something. The attack wasn't bad persay, just uninspiring and Cronulla were on their A game - holding on with remarkable defensive grit.

Ultimately, the visitors scored once again before full time to make it 44-0 - the score at which the game ended. Jesse Ramien spent the last 10 minutes in the sin bin, but in an accurate representation of their night, the Titans couldn't convert.