Sharks v Broncos player ratings: Who starred, who struggled

WHO starred and who struggled as Cronulla opened their premiership defence with a loss? Check out the Sharks v Broncos player ratings.

Corey Oates scores a try for the Broncos.

CRONULLA’S premiership defence is off to a losing start, with the Sharks downed by a slick Brisbane 26-18 in Thursday night’s opening game of the NRL season.

But who starred and who struggled at Southern Cross Group Stadium?

Check out our player ratings below.

Gerard Beale 6.5 Scored Sharks opening try but nothing like the spark of a Barba.	FULLBACK	Darius Boyd 8 Great debut as skipper. Some quality involvement and courage to play on injured.
Sosaia Feki 5.5 A few decent second half carries but very little impact.	WING	Corey Oates 7 No frills but always takes stopping and good involvement.
Jack Bird 6.5 Sharks didn’t go to him enough. Moved to fullback late.	CENTRE	James Roberts 6 His blinding pace got him a try but generally well contained.
Ricky Leutele 6 Scored a strong try but not a big enough threat.	CENTRE	Tautau Moga 7 A big body who presented some problems. Justified Bennett’s faith in him.
Edrick Lee 4 What was he thinking when Oates scored? Ordinary debut.	WING	Jordan Kahu 7 Scored try, kicked 5 from 5 and safe as houses under high ball.
James Maloney 6 Had his moments in attack but had his defensive issues.	5/8	Anthony Milford 7 Mixed bag but showed his brilliance to score the game-breaker late.
Chad Townsend 7.5 Came to life in second half and one of the Sharks’ most likely.	H/BACK	Ben Hunt 6 Had some good moments and some average moments.
Andrew Fifita 7.5 Picked up from where he left off last season. Another powerful display.	PROP	Korbin Sims 7 Strong performance. Will leave Knights fans wondering where that came from.
Jayden Brailey 7 Looks likely. Got through plenty of defence and will run more as confidence grows.	HOOKER	Andrew McCullough 6 His usual wholehearted defensive effort.
Matt Prior 6 Not the impact he had most of last season.	PROP	Adam Blair 7 Monstered in first hit-up but recovered to play a strong role.
Luke Lewis 7 Was really good early but lost his attacking radar in second half.	2ND ROW	Sam Thaiday 7 One memorable second half charge crucially gave his side back the momentum.
Wade Graham 7.5 Hit on Glenn was a ripper and couldn’t have done much more with opportunities.	2ND ROW	Matt Gillett 8 One of the game’s best backrowers and showed why.
Paul Gallen 7.5 The machine rolls on. Big metres and defensive work load.	LOCK	Josh McGuire 7.5 Playing the Corey Parker role and the former captain would have approved.
Jayson Bukuya 6.5 Solid and honest. That about sums it up.	I/CHANGE	Alex Glenn 2 Survived an early Graham bell-ringer but his night still ended early.
Chris Heighington 6.5 Held up McCullough to prevent a try but not a lot of attacking impact.	I/CHANGE	Tevita Pangai 7 Some good off-loads and plenty of impact with the footy.
Sam Tagataese 4 Has provided some explosive impact in the past but not in this one.	I/CHANGE	Herman Ese’ese 6.5 Bulldogs may end up regretting they let this bloke go.
Fa’amanu Brown 3 Gave a penalty away when thrown into the game and it didn’t get any better.	I/CHANGE	Jai Arrow 5.5 Thrown into game in second half and had some good touches.
104.5	TOTAL	110.5