Kieran Foran will be thankful Manly has a bye next week after the Sea Eagles suffered their fourth-straight defeat when hosting the Sharks on Sunday.
A 30-6 scoreline at half-time was the exact statement the Sharks wanted to put the rest of the competition on alert heading into the finals series, with the club going on to claim a 48-12 win.
Cronulla players celebrate after scoring a try. Getty Images
Nicho Hynes was the stand-out for the visitors, nailing all eight conversion attempts and even finding his own way over the tryline in the 34th minute.
The Sharks were unlucky not to have 16-point lead when Addin Fonua-Blake crashed over the tryline in the 32nd minute, but the storming forward was denied by the Bunker due to fumbling the ball when grounding it.
The denied try did not halt the momentum of the visitors as they lifted the speed of their game and looked to Hynes to push forward and score from close range.
“He is just a real confident player,” Andrew Johns said of Hynes on Nine.
“Nicho Hynes is bubbling. He just surged over the line.”
Sione Katoa joined teammates Ronaldo Mulitalo, William Kennedy and Teig Wilton as the other tryscorers for the Sharks in the first half.
As for Manly, it was clear that Foran needed to find a way to get his men to “fix their discipline”.
“You just get the feeling that the Sharks can win by as many as they want,” Phil Gould said at half-time.
Johns agreed, adding: “The Sharks are flying – look at them. They are all smiles, life is good, footy is easy.”
The theme of the second half was no different to the first for Manly, as minor mistakes were made in crucial areas of the field and Cronulla continued to thrive.
Cronulla pounced three more times via Mulitalo, Siosifa Talakai and KL Iro, destroying the small bit of hope that came when Manly’s Tolu Koula had found the tryline early in the first half.
A consolation try by Joey Walsh gave home fans one moment to celebrate with five minutes left on the clock, but it was simply too late to change the result.
The result sees the Sharks solidify their spot inside the top four, now winning eight of their last nine games.