Sharks maul Broncos 46-12
Cronulla halfback Scott Porter has guided the Sharks to their fourth straight NRL victory and their biggest ever win over Brisbane at Toyota Stadium on Monday night.
The Sharks ran in eight tries to two in the 46-12 thrashing in front of 8,117 fans - the third week straight the Broncos have conceded more than 40 points.
While the young Brisbane halves pairing of Andrew McCullough and debutant Ben Hunt struggled to make an impact, Porter made light of the absence of State of Origin representatives Trent Barrett and Paul Gallen for the Sharks.
Former Test backrower Anthony Tupou made a comeback from a knee injury to fill in for Gallen at lock and also shone.
The tone was set when Porter kicked a 40-20 from the first set of the game which enabled winger Blake Ferguson to score his first of three tries.
The winger did brilliantly to get the ball down despite almost his entire body being airborne over the sideline in a great start for the Sharks.
Broncos winger Jharal Yow Yeh spilt a Porter bomb in the 12th minute after Corey Parker had hit back for the visitors, allowing centre Mitch Brown to restore a lead the Sharks never relinquished.
Grant Millington's double either side of halftime nullified Steve Michael's early second-half strike for the Broncos, before Porter and Tupou combined to send Ferguson in for his second in the 53rd minute.
Ferguson sealed the points, and his first NRL hat-trick, when Tupou gathered a poor kick by 19-year-old Hunt before sending the winger on an 80m dash to the line in the 64th minute.
Brisbane, missing five players to Origin, fielded three debutants, their club's youngest-ever backline and they have now lost three straight matches.
Their woes were summed up when 17-year-old fullback Dale Copley fumbled a ball to gift Sharks skipper Luke Covell the last try of the night.
And they could be in for more bad news after backrower Ben Te'o was reported for a dangerous tackle in the game's 58th minute.
Sharks coach Ricky Stuart praised his players for their dedication and effort despite the club's series of on- and off-field problems.
"I'm so proud of the players in regards to what they've got through over the last course of 14-15 weeks," Stuart said.
"A lot of other football clubs couldn't have and wouldn't have handled the situation that these boys have been put under.
"I'm so proud of the fact that they've stuck together solid. No-one's looked around the corner for a shortcut, no-one's looked for an excuse, no-one's been sniping. We've stuck real good as a group."
Three-try Ferguson suggested his brilliant opening try wasn't as freakish as it might have looked.
"I was practising that three weeks ago. Me, Toops (Tupou) and ... (Atelea) Vea," he said.
"Just mucking around in the corner, it was in the same corner."
Broncos boss Ivan Henjak said his young team had failed to perform under the pressure of NRL football.
"I really felt for those young fellas tonight," he said.
"The way the game went, the were pretty much thrown to the wolves and it was a tough night for them.
"Anyway, we'll try and stay positive and keep moving on."
Post a comment about this article
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.