Nicho Hynes has boosted his hopes of a State of Origin recall by starring in Cronulla's most clinical performance of the season, a thumping 42-6 win over North Queensland.
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Seemingly locked in a race with Jarome Luai to clinch NSW's five-eighth spot, Hynes' attacking nous was pivotal to Cronulla retaining top spot on the NRL ladder at Shark Park on Sunday.
He steered Scott Drinkwater close to the sideline with a kick in the first three minutes, with the Cowboys fullback then attempting an offload but passing straight to Cronulla's Will Kennedy.
Kennedy strolled over to open the scoring and the Sharks never looked back.
Coach Craig Fitzgibbon believed his side's fifth win of the campaign was their most complete performance yet.
"I'd suggest so far, yeah, against a quality opponent like they are," he said.
Hynes continued to terrorise Drinkwater, who spilled his bomb in the second half and allowed Braydon Trindall to complete a try-scoring double.
It was a Hynes cut-out pass that sent Ronaldo Mulitalo over for the first of his two tries, which extended the Sharks' lead to 36-0.
Hynes kicked a perfect seven from seven goals and defensively, he snuffed out the Cowboys' best raid of the first half with a one-on-one tackle on Tom Dearden.
The Cowboys had little chance to flaunt their usually slick attack, such was the Sharks' stranglehold on the game. By the time North Queensland played the ball inside the Sharks' red zone, 37 minutes had passed and Cronulla were up 24-0.
"At 24-0, we've got a slim chance and then when the game gets to 30-0 in that second half, guys are starting to look at each other and play as individuals," said Cowboys coach Todd Payten.
"The score blew out because of it."
The visitors did themselves few favours.
They struggled to hold the ball in the second half, with Jeremiah Nanai knocking on over the try-line in their clearest wasted chance.
Cronulla had no such disciplinary issues, completing all of their first 20 sets and taking half an hour to give away a penalty.
"We had a plan that we wanted to execute and I thought we controlled the game pretty well by holding onto the ball and doing the simple stuff," said Fitzgibbon.
"We got our basics in the game really well done."
Goal-line defence was another major issue for the Cowboys; three of Cronulla's four first-half tries came from plays that began with the Cowboys defending their line.
Prop Tom Hazelton displayed some dazzling footwork to evade three defenders for a brilliant individual try, before Samuel Stonestreet bagged a four-pointer on NRL debut.
The local junior, a Sharks diehard in his youth, dived over in the corner where his friends and family had gathered to watch his first game.
Ex-Shark Valentine Holmes pounced on Chad Townsend's grubber kick to score the definition of a consolation try with 18 minutes remaining.
The loss continues the Cowboys' horror record at Shark Park, where they have won only one of their past eight games.
Australian Associated Press
