No luck at Shark Park

With field position in their favour, the Sharks made five line breaks to nil in the opening as Melbourne's usually sound defence was exposed, particularly on the edges.

After losing chief playmaker Nicho Hynes a day before the game, veteran five-eighth Matt Moylan stepped up in his absence with a stirring effort which included two try assists. 

Match snapshot

• Storm winger Grant Anderson was sent for a HIA in the fifth minute but later returned after passing the assessment. He finished the game on the bench, however, with an arm injury. 
• Cronulla crossed in the 11th minute through Jesse Ramien on the right edge before Matt Moylan set up Blayke Brailey with a left foot step to get past Ryan Papenhuzen close to the line. 
• Melbourne had three sets on Cronulla's line but couldn't capitalise as they were later starved of possession.
• Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo made it 10 tries in 11 games at PointsBet Stadium when he collected a Moylan kick in the 33rd minute. 
• Jesse Ramien lost the ball over the line to deny the Sharks another try but made up for it before half-time to pick up a Sione Katoa kick for a 20-0 lead.
• Sharks centre Connor Tracey churned out 161 metres for the home side in the win, the best yardage maker in the match.
• Cronulla's win was their sixth from seven attempts at PointsBet Stadium since their return to the venue at the start of the season.
• Brandon Smith was sent to the sin-bin for dissent in the second half before Andrew Fifita was given his marching orders with two minutes left for a dangerous throw on the Storm hooker.
• Storm rookie Alec MacDonald scored the first try of his NRL career late in the loss.

Play of the game

Cronulla's outside backs were at their usual starring best with Ronaldo Mulitalo's pick-up effort from Matt Moylan's kick in the 33rd minute among the highlights of the game. 

What they said

"Our effort in the first half I thought was pretty good. With all due respect, their footy in that first half was pretty off the charts to be quite honest. I thought we were still in the game at 10-0. I didn't think we deserved [20-0] but we got it. There's some things there we probably need to improve in. But I our effort areas tonight were a lot better than last week, especially at the start of the game." - Storm coach Craig Bellamy.

"It was a pleasing performance. We got right at it, straight off the bat. The players that came in, all fulfilled their roles individually and together we just looked like a team and played like a team tonight. It takes a long time to be able to take a team and steer them around the park but (Braydon) Trindall has trained a lot with us, that wasn't a fluke for him. He's worked hard and he's trained a lot in that position and that's why I'm so confident in him as a player." - Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon.

What's next

Cronulla will make the trip to North Queensland next Friday night for a clash against the Cowboys. The match will be the first for the Sharks against former playmaker Chad Townsend. 

Sharks star Nicho Hynes and Toby Rudolf are likely to return after COVID-19 ruled them out. 

The Storm have a 10-day turnaround before hosting the Raiders at AAMI Park with Origin stars Cameron Munster and Harry Grant to be monitored. Felise Kaufusi's availability will be one worth noting while Tepai Moeroa is also pencilled in for a return in round 18.