A proud Wayne Bennett has praised his patched-up Broncos' gutsy 26-12 upset of Cronulla as one of the club's most special NRL wins.

Missing a dozen players through injury and State of Origin commitments, Brisbane wasn't expected to seriously challenge a Sharks outfit that had won eight of its last nine games.

But a rampaging first-half, built on 62 per cent of possession and a ruthless defensive intensity, shocked the visitors as Brisbane raced to a 16-0 lead.

Bennett's men then held on as a disappointing Cronulla blew chance after chance after the break.

Bennett declared the five-tries-to-two triumph in front of 25,863 Suncorp Stadium fans as an outstanding performance.

"I'm extremely proud," he said. "I'm humbled to be a part of it.

"It was a special win and I'm very fortunate.

"It was just such a team effort out there today."

The rare praise was matched by skipper Shane Webcke who celebrated his 251st top-grade match with his 21st career try, slamming the ball down for a 10-0 lead in the 15th minute.

"Milestones come and go but performances like that and being fortunate enough to be a part of a club that can produce something like that is very special," Webcke said.

"I thought they were just bloody wonderful."

The win arguably surpassed the achievement of the original "Baby Broncos" in 2002 when they upset a struggling Wests Tigers.

While the team boasted a hard-nosed forward pack featuring five former Maroons, third-placed Cronulla came to Brisbane as the form team of the competition.

Cronulla threatened a comeback when Greg Bird pounced on a Brett Kimmorley grubber to make it 22-12 with 20 minutes left but shot itself in the foot.

The Broncos were flagging after using up all but one of their interchanges when Sharks centre Beau Scott lost the ball in a Ben Hannant tackle and watched as rising teenager Darius Boyd made him pay.

Fullback Boyd scooped up the ball and combined with lanky winger Scott Minto who flicked the ball back in Bird's cover tackle for a crowd-stirring try which sealed the match.

Brisbane now sits four points behind ladder leader Melbourne who will host a top-of-the-table clash between the sides on Friday night.

The win did come at a cost for the Broncos with try-scoring winger Tame Tupou facing three weeks out with a hamstring injury.

There are concerns for canny halfback Shane Perry, who combined well with five-eighth Brett Seymour, after he limped off in the second half with a knee problem.

Utility Casey McGuire was put on report for a late and high shot on Brett Kimmorley.

Kimmorley took little issue with the infringement but was disgusted no action was taken against Greg Eastwood for an alleged stomping incident late in the game.

Sharks coach Stuart Raper denied his side was less committed but lamented a series of handling blunders.

"We probably created opportunities to score tries but just came up with a dumb off-load or poor drop ball," he said.

Centre Nigel Vagana had a match he'd rather forget, epitomising the error-ridden display by bombing a certain second-half try by dropping the ball cold with the line wide open.

Fullback David Simmons sustained a knee ligament strain that has him in doubt for next weekend's game against the Tigers.

Brisbane has emerged from the taxing Origin period with an impressive 3-2 record but Bennett said the real test was ahead of his team after it fell in a heap before the finals in 2004 and 2005.

"Now we just have to get this next part right," he said. "That's our challenge coming up to make sure we're playing this type of football at the end of the footy season."

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