North Queensland’s NRL season has descended into further chaos with another limp effort ending in a record 48-10 loss to Cronulla.
The Cowboys conceded six first-half tries, narrowly avoiding becoming the first team to ship 50 points this season but still notching their biggest-ever loss to the Sharks.
The winless Cowboys were equally aimless in attack, needlessly running the ball over the sideline early in the tackle count as alarm bells rang louder for new coach Todd Payten.
The result follows a 44-8 loss to Gold Coast last weekend and comes with star playmaker Michael Morgan’s playing future up in the air as he contends with a debilitating shoulder injury.
The Sharks (41 of 49) were ruthless, completing almost double the sets of the Cowboys (24 of 35) and boasting plenty of options behind the dynamic Matt Moylan and clever kicking of hooker Blayke Brailey.
In a clinical first-half display, they wreaked havoc on both edges of the depleted Cowboys defence.
A Brailey 40-20 opened the floodgates, Moylan scoring from a skilful Braden Hamlin-Uele flick pass for a 24-6 lead after 32 minutes.
They scored twice more in the next six minutes to lead 36-6 at the break, Chad Townsend (eight of eight) perfect with the boot, putting to rest his troubles after their round-two loss to Canberra.
The Cowboys’ only first-half points came from a Sharks attacking raid gone wrong, with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow scooping up a loose ball and running 90 metres to score.
Coen Hess and Jake Granville were thrown in to the centres with Justin O’Neill and Murray Taulagi failing their head-injury assessments.
Josh Dugan was another victim of concussion while Sharks teammate Ronaldo Mulitano (knee) was also sidelined in a frenetic first half.