Cronulla Sharks

The 26-12 triumph was Cronulla's fifth in a row and moved Craig Fitzgibbon's men into equal second place with North Queensland on 26 points.

The Cowboys were without Origin stars Valentine Holmes, Tom Dearden and Jeremiah Nanai but remained in the contest until midway through the second half after a controversial disallowed try to star forward Jason Taumalolo.

Cronulla scored two late tries to seal the win and set up a top-of-the-table clash with premiers Penrith next Friday night. 

Match snapshot

A Johnathan Thurston-led Cowboys got the chocolates in round one that night but since then it's been all one-way traffic with Cronulla racking up wins in both Sydney and Townsville. 

Cronulla's big win over Melbourne in round 17 has them in the top four while the victory against their rivals has helped the Cowboys move to second on points differential. 

With both side's looking for their fifth win in a row, the top four battle is set to be one of the matches of the round.

Melbourne sit second but have slipped six points tearaway leaders Penrith while the Sharks are nestled in fourth as they head into a gruelling month of footy with matches against the Storm, Cowboys, Panthers and Rabbitohs.

The first task at hand for Craig Fitzgibbon's men is to take care of business against a Storm outfit desperate to hit back after an uncharacteristically sloppy loss to Manly but needing to do it without Origin stars Cameron Munster and Harry Grant, as well as Felise Kaufusi who is on family leave in the USA.

The accurate kicking of halfback Nicho Hynes, on a surface with plenty of standing water, was key to Cronulla building pressure on the scoreboard against a Bulldogs side who were reduced to a two-man bench midway through the second half. 

The match swung on a potential 12-point turnaround just after the hour mark, with the Dogs denied a try to rookie Kurtis Morrin after the NRL Bunker found a Sharks player was held back in the lead-up, before Nikora scored three minutes later. 

A converted try to Blayke Brailey and 58th minute penalty goal to Nicho Hynes in the second half ensured the Sharks secured their ninth win of the season after both sides were locked at 10-10 after 40 minutes. 

Cronulla were anything but convincing in the victory with a total of 16 errors but Hynes and halves partner Matt Moylan, who scored a try and had a hand in one, did enough to guide the side around the park. 

The victory moves the Sharks in front of the Broncos in fourth spot on the Telstra Premiership ladder ahead of the representative round next week.

Under new coach Craig Fitzgibbon the Sharks are putting together an impressive campaign although a lack of consistency has become something of a concern with their last eight games reading L-W-L-W-L-W-L-W.

The Titans, meanwhile, would happily settle for such a record having dropped nine of their past 10 games and conceded 282 points in the process.

Tedesco tuned up for Origin One with a dazzling display which included a try, two try assists, nine tackle breaks and 242 running metres.

The Roosters had the early ascendancy thanks to a Daniel Tupou try in just the fourth minute after Drew Hutchison took the odds to running on the last tackle and found his winger with a crafty offload.

Come the 21st minute and Tupou had his second of the night and 125th of his career after Luke Keary and Tedesco combined from a scrumbase play to give the winger a saloon passage to the line.

At their best the Roosters are a force to be reckoned with but consistency has been an issue in 2022 with some stirring wins over the Cowboys, Broncos and Eels countered by losses to the Bulldogs and Dragons.

The Sharks, meanwhile, have settled into a groove under new coach Craig Fitzgibbon and have one of the form players in the NRL in Nicho Hynes leading them around in style.

A bumper crowd is assured at PointsBet Stadium on a Saturday night and the home side will go in as clear favourites to rack up an eighth win of the season.

The Sharks were in an arm wrestle for the opening 40 minutes on the Gold Coast before surging away from the Titans, who were forced to defend their line for most of the contest in wet conditions. 

Cronulla's attack hit its straps after half-time with three tries in quick succession setting up an 18-point lead before the Titans hit back with two of their own to set up a grandstand finish.

However, a field goal to Nicho Hynes with less than a minute on the clock sealed the win and got the Sharks back in the winner's circle after a shock loss to Canberra in Magic Round.

The Sharks themselves hit another Suncorp Stadium road block with a lacklustre performance against the Raiders to slump to second loss at the venue.

Cronulla's attack was off compared to previous weeks with Nicho Hynes' move to fullback and the suspensions of Will Kennedy and Jesse Ramien clearly rattling the side's cohesion with the ball. 

Gold Coast enjoyed their first win in more than a month to set up an intriguing match to end round 11 with the Titans continuing a six-week block where they won't leave Queensland until June 18.