North Queensland’s season of woe has gone from bad to worse with a lacklustre 44-6 loss to Cronulla, which coach Todd Payten described as “far from NRL standard”.
After reaching last year’s preliminary final, Payten’s men are struggling to replicate their 2022 form and Thursday night’s heavy defeat to a Nicho Hynes-inspired Sharks leaves them with a 3-6 record.
Chad Townsend (calf) went off in the second half and could join fellow co-captain Jason Taumalolo on the sidelines for next week’s Magic Round meeting with Sydney Roosters.
Fullback Tom Chester also suffered an ACL injury and could be joined on the sidelines by Jeremiah Nanai (hip-drop) and Coen Hess (trip) after both were sin-binned at PointsBet Stadium.
“Our tries conceded didn’t come from systems breakdown, it came down to one-on-one misses,” Payten said.
“I’m not offering up any excuses. That was far from NRL standard.”
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Payten said Townsend was taken off as a precaution after battling a niggling issue.
Cronulla will head to Brisbane to take on the Dolphins brimming with confidence after another impressive display from NSW State of Origin hopeful Hynes.
The halfback pulled all the strings for his side and was named the winner of the inaugural Paul Green Medal as the Sharks moved up to second on the ladder with up a third consecutive win.
“Nicho controlled the game and was outstanding,” said Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon, who decided the winner of the award.
“We needed to do that tonight to mount pressure and defend the way we wanted to, I thought it was fitting it was the Sharks No. 7 who won it.”
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The only blemish for Fitzgibbon was an MCL injury for prop Braden Hamlin-Uele, who was the unfortunate victim of Nanai’s ugly hip-drop tackle.
The Cowboys made things simple for the Sharks who had a 14-point lead in as many minutes with tries to Siosifa Talakai and Jesse Ramien and a Hynes penalty.
The Sharks’ sizzling attack was matched by their ferocious defence, something they have struggled to recapture at times in 2023.
On one set Cronulla kept the Cowboys pinned on their own tryline by restricting them to just 10 metres across the six tackle set.
Sione Katoa stepped his way over on the next Cronulla set and only a try from Kyle Feldt late in the half prevented the visitors from going in scoreless at the interval.
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Cronulla picked up where it left off after the break with a slick flowing move allowing Ronaldo Mulitalo to cross soon after halftime, Hynes adding a penalty to extend their lead.
The Cowboys were holding their own but the loss of Townsend and the sin-binning of Hess for a high shot on Ramien led to an implosion.
Mulitalo added his second before Scott Drinkwater spilled a bomb into Hynes’ lap and the halfback scored the easiest of tries.
Nanai’s hip-drop tackle on Hamlin-Uele meant the Cowboys were down to 12 to finish the game and hardworking Sharks backrower Teig Wilton bust his way over to round out the thrashing.
-AAP
