Warriors go from bad to worse as Cronulla Sharks roll to big victory
Interim coach Todd Payten's hopes of winning the full-time job have taken another heavy blow after the Warriors were put to the sword by Cronulla. The Warriors made a nightmare start to trail 18-0 in the opening 15 minutes and never recovered, with the Sharks rolling to a 46-10 victory on a sunny afternoon at Central Coast Stadium. Former Warriors star Shaun Johnson showed touches of class throughout, scoring a try and setting up a long-range effort that put the result beyond any doubt at the start of the second half, as well as landing seven from eight conversions. But there was no escaping the fact that this was an incredibly poor performance from the Auckland club, leaving Payten with just one win from four matches since stepping into the hot seat following Stephen Kearney's dismissal. READ MORE: * Sale of the century: NRL in talks about potential $1 billion equity deal * NRL: Toe injury puts Kiwis star Kieran Foran's future in doubt * Warriors agree to let Blake Green go midseason if rival club makes offer To be fair to the coach, the Warriors are under extremely trying circumstances and he did have them playing a tougher brand of footy over the last two weeks. But that went out the window against the Sharks as the defence opened up far too easily. And it doesn't get any easier for Payten to push his case with reigning premiers the Roosters up next. As bad as the Warriors defence was, they continue to look clueless in attack. It's not like the Sharks didn't give them any opportunities to mount a comeback in the first half - the Warriors actually finished the half with slightly more possession and a better completion rate. But be it through poor handling, a wayward pass or a misdirected kick, they just couldn't build any sustained pressure inside Cronulla territory. They bombed a try early on when Patrick Herbert fumbled the ball over the line, while their struggle for execution was perhaps best summed up shortly after when Blake Green sent a pass straight into the face of Karl Lawton. Meanwhile, it took the Sharks just three minutes to open the scoring when Kiwis prop Braden Hamlin-Uele busted through some feeble defence from 20 metres out. Fullback William Kennedy then scored off a simple scrum move, easily getting on the outside of Peta Hiku, before Josh Dugan put Ronaldo Mulitalo over with a superb around-the-corner offload. In desperate need of a momentum swing, the Warriors found that courtesy of a successful captain's challenge and Ken Maumalo strolled over a few plays later to get the Warriors on the board. It wasn't long before normal service resumed, though. Not for the first time this season, the Warriors made a mess of cleaning up an in-goal grubber. And Johnson followed up his own kick, showing finger-tip control to ground the ball inches inside the dead-ball line. Down 24-4 at halftime, only the most loyal of Warriors' fans would have held out any hope of a comback after the break. But that was quickly put to bed when Johnson fielded a Green grubber and raced clear before finding winger Sione Katoa, who beat the chase of Hiku to finish the 100-metre try. As if they needed help, the Sharks' task was made easier when Green was sin binned for a professional foul in the final quarter. They continued the pile on the points before the Warriors grabbed a late consolation try through Wayde Egan. Sharks 46 ( Sione Katoa 2, Jesse Ramien 2, Braden Hamlin-Uele, William Kennedy, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Shaun Johnson tries; Johnson 7 goals) Warriors 10 (Ken Maumalo, Wayde Egan tries; Roger Tuivasa-Sheck goal). HT: 24-4.