Now after beating the Cowboys 30-18 the Sharks have guaranteed themselves a finals spot and are pushing for a top four place, with three of their four remaining matches at Remondis Stadium.  The Sharks have beaten the Cowboys and the Roosters twice and South Sydney to cement themselves as a genuine premiership hope, sitting equal with the Rabbitohs on the premiership ladder. The loss cost the Cowboys top spot.

Cronulla's five try to three try win – in what was Shane Flanagan's 100th as coach – saw two length of the field run away tries following poor kicks by Johnathan Thurston. Veterans Michael Ennis, Michael Gordon and Jeff Robson were Cronulla's best in front of 13,878 people.   All the Cowboys points came from kicks.

"We're competing, we're a tough footy side," Flanagan said. "We think we can score some tries. We can go in the grind and score some points.
"They have a real lot of belief. They are working really hard for each other during the week and out on the field. I'm pushing them in the right direction but if they don't want to go there they won't. We go out there thinking we can win every week."

The Sharks led 18-0 early in the second half.

The Cowboys forward pack – who were without the rested Matt Scott – were dominated. And their woes could be compounded with prop James Tamou facing a suspension after being placed on report for a late high tackle on Matt Prior.

Cronulla opened the scoring through a Gordon penalty goal. The fullback would play a part in the Sharks next points, when he fired a pass to Ricky Leutele who scored after 21 minutes.

North Queensland's best attacking opportunity in the opening half was thwarted by a desperate Ennis. A trademark Thurston dummy saw him slide past Wade Graham and race away. He drew fullback Gordon before passing inside to Michael Morgan who fumbled the ball on contact with Ennis.

While defence helped keep the Cowboys at bay, the Sharks would be rewarded for their commitment to tackling. Line speed and heavy hitting by the Sharks meant the Cowboys failed to get outside their 20 metre zone before their last play kick late in the first half.

A penalty to Cronulla would further build pressure before a two pass shift to Jack Bird isolated Thurston for Bird to score. The Cowboys inside men were attracted by the Sharks decoy runners to leave Thurston secluded on his line to give the Sharks a 14-0 half-time lead.

The Sharks wasted little time to extend their lead when Gordon again featured. The Parramatta bound Gordon scooped on a dribbling Thurston kick before splitting Thurston and Ethan Lowe to race 90 metres and open an 18 point lead after 44 minutes.

Ill-discipline by the Sharks cost them and allowed the Cowboys back into the game with two tries in as many minutes. Back to back penalties put North Queensland on the attack, and they struck back with a Coote short-side grubber finding Winterstein to see his side trail by 14 before Kane Linnett scored. The second try was enough for Flanagan to call on Ben Barba for the first time.

Thurston added a penalty goal to get within six points for which Sam Tagataese was placed on report for making dangerous contact on the Cowboys skipper.

A Thurston kick ended the Cowboys steak when a cross field bomb found Gerald Beale who raced the distance to score his first try of the season and extend Cronulla's lead by two converted tries.

Thurston's boot finally laid on points for his team, with a deft kick finding Matt Wright in the corner. A Thurston sideline conversion had the Cowboys trialling by six before Graham crashed over to close out the game.

Cowboys coach Paul Green praised the Sharks.

"They turned up ready to play," Green said.  :They were full of energy, defended well, controlled the ball well. They were better than us.

"We probably could have been a bit more desperate on one of their tries."