The winning start to the 2024 NRLW season has come to a grinding halt for the Cronulla Sharks after going down to the Sydney Roosters in their round seven clash at PointsBet Stadium.
The Sharks came into the contest on the back of six consecutive wins, however they were no match for a red-hot Roosters outfit, the visitors scoring eight tries in a dominant 40-0 victory.
While the Roosters were impressive, the result and performance from the Sharks was in contrast to their opening six rounds of the season, where the Cronulla side had risen to every challenge to sit on top of the NRLW ladder.
It was an uncharacteristically slow start for the Sharks, with the Roosters posting first points courtesy of a try through a gaping hole in the middle of the Cronulla defensive line, prop Otesa Pule touching down adjacent to the uprights.
Inside the first 15 minutes the visitors were in again, this time as a result of misjudged bomb from Roosters five eighth Jocelyn Kelleher, the Sharks letting the ball bounce, with Olivia Kernick collecting the football and planting it down for her team's second four pointer of the afternoon.
Both tries were converted from close range and the Roosters led 12-0.
It didn't take long for them to add to their advantage, another awkward kick was spilled by the Sharks and three tackles later the Roosters were in again, on this occasion it was former Cronulla player Sam Bremner outsprinting the defence to score 10 metres in from the eastern touchline.
And the Sharks' first half woes continued, after an error in a good attacking position the Roosters went the length of the field in the next set of six, winger Mia Wood scoring their fourth try wide out, with Kelleher converting and it was 22-0 with seven minutes remaining in the first period.
Unfortunately for the Sharks the second half began in a similar fashion to the first, failing to kick the ball out after receiving a penalty gifted the Roosters the ball, then at the end of their set it was Kernick in the game again, punching through the line before throwing a perfectly weighted pass for Wood to score her second.The sideline conversion was wide but at 26-0 to the Roosters, the Sharks had it all to do.
Things would go from bad to worse for the Sharks, a fifth tackle penalty again provided their opponents with a scoring opportunity, which they gladly accepted, half back Taryn Aitken spotting an overlap on the left, with winger Brydie Parker diving over.
With their confidence high and the Sharks struggling to keep pace with a mountain of possession and field position against them, the Roosters would score again through Isabelle Kelly with 10 minutes left on the clock, converted by Kellaher, before another four pointer to Taina Naividi pushed the score out to 40-0.
The game was played in front of a crowd of 1,901.
The Sharks will now look to dust themselves off and regroup ahead of the next assignment, which is an away game against the Broncos at Cbus Stadium on the Gold Coast on Saturday.
