Braydon Trindall’s masterclass has powered Cronulla to a 50-10 mauling of Gold Coast, whose Josh Hannay era began in dismal fashion at Shark Park.
Trindall nabbed two tries and three assists as Cronulla ran out to a 34-0 lead before ex-Sharks assistant Hannay had the chance to deliver his first half-time address as Titans coach.
Sharks five-eighth Trindall added a fourth try assist and a 40/20 kick in a more even second half on Saturday afternoon.
Cronulla’s hopes of seriously contending for a second NRL premiership will not be determined by a round-one demolition of perennial underachievers Gold Coast.
But things couldn’t have started much better for the back-to-back preliminary finalists as they look to finally take the next step in 2026.
It has also never been clearer that the Sharks are at their most dangerous when Trindall is in charge, not when he and Nicho Hynes are trying to split organising duties evenly.
Trindall had the Sharks on the board in their first set by lofting up a high kick that winger Sam Stonestreet tapped back for Will Kennedy.
He then swung right and sent a grubber kick though the line for a try to Briton Nikora, one of the NRL’s most dangerous running second-rowers.
In the set after the Sharks’ third try, Trindall got in on the action by dummying straight past Arama Hau for his first four-pointer, and had a second when Keano Kini spilt his kick.
Trindall capped off a masterly half by sending Hynes over, then put Jesse Ramien in for his second four-pointer after the break.
Hynes had the Sharks up to 50 points when he spun away from the defence at close range for his second try, then iced his seventh conversion from nine attempts.
It was a brutal introduction to full-time head coaching for Hannay, the latest in a long line of highly-rated coaches tasked with inspiring success at the Titans.
Gold Coast had 10 more red-zone tackles than the Sharks but seven fewer tries, and made some worrying mistakes with the footy.
In admittedly windy conditions, Lachie Ilias sprayed a kick-off out on the full and AJ Brimson did the same to a kick in the red zone.
Even more egregiously, the Titans coughed up possession when no player made it to dummy-half during a first-half attacking raid deep in Sharks territory.
Titans captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui went on report in the first half for a late shot on Sharks counterpart Blayke Brailey.
