Tipped as wooden spoon contenders after a round one shellacking at the hands of Canberra, Cronulla have posted back-to-back NRL wins to prove they're anything but easybeats this year.

Backing up off a short turnaround from Monday night's enormous upset of premiers St George Illawarra, the Sharks proved it was no fluke on Saturday night by destroying Penrith 44-12 at Centrebet Stadium.

And it was the manner in which they dismantled the Panthers that had coach Shane Flanagan smiling after the match.

He was delighted to silence the critics who suggest Cronulla don't have the ability to score tries and can only grind out wins, as they did against the Dragons.

But after watching lively five-eighth Albert Kelly spark a seven-try onslaught, Flanagan had reason to be cocky.

"I think a few people were asking how we could beat teams when we only score 12 to 18 points," Flanagan said.

"We've got some good players in our team, not just good defenders. I was really happy that we showed what we can do tonight.

"I was really pleased with the attention to detail and the effort that they put in after a tough game on Monday night."

Captain Paul Gallen revealed that Flanagan had given his team instructions to target Penrith centres Timana Tahu and Michael Jennings, who both endured forgettable evenings.

"They had a new side with Tahu being out there, they didn't have much cohesion, a lot of balls were going behind players," he said.

"We worked really hard on Jennings this week, we know that he's their go-to man, and he made a few breaks but I thought we held him pretty well."

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