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‘Easy to say’: Sharks coach’s honest admission on ugly slump... as ‘fair statement’ highlights reality Craig Fitzgibbon was quizzed on his side’s form slump after breaking a two-game losing streak to down the Titans, admitting it was a “fair” suggestion the Sharks were in a rut. The Sharks were enjoying a five-game winning streak before going down to the Dragons in a shock loss and then the Raiders a week later, halting what looked to be a dangerous finals surge. Cronulla are hunting for a spot in the top four and sit two points behind the Dolphins in fifth — and Fitzgibbon was pressed by a reporter that said “it’s clear you guys aren’t sort of playing the footy you were a month ago”. Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. “It’s easy to say based on the last couple of weeks, that’s a fair statement,” Fitzgibbon said. “It’s definitely not at the level the last couple of weeks that we have been. “(The) second half was close to what we were, so just take the second half and move on with that.” During their victory over the Titans, Josh Hannay’s 15th-placed outfit held a 16-8 lead at halftime and dominated in the final 15 minutes of the first half. The Sharks needed to respond and did so with four second half tries, but Fitzgibbon admitted there were areas that Cronulla need to improve to push for the title. Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!! “Just parts in our footy, that’s the hardest thing is that you’re playing teams with nothing to lose, so it becomes a break open, throw the ball around, loose game,” he explained. “Whereas sometime the game is knuckled down a little bit harder, but I thought Titans were fantastic in the first half. “And knowing Josh (Hannay), we expected nothing less, like he knows us. We know him, and then we felt like he would know what to do, and I thought they were doing that really well in the first half. “Then I was most pleased with (the fact we) didn’t let the scoreboard affect us today. I thought we’re still doing stuff we need to do.” Elsewhere, winger Ronaldo Mulitalo overtook David Peachey to become the Sharks’ second-greatest ever tryscorer. MORE NRL NEWS TALKING PTS: Theory on why Madge finally snapped; shock call on Panthers ‘WON’T STAND IN HIS WAY’: Huge reveal in QLD coaching race amid shock call RUN HOME: Unthinkable 0.5% Broncos reality; how Wahs could get huge advantage Fitzgibbon heaped praise on his gun flyer post-match, highlighting his abilities beyond his knack of finding the white line. “Tries are one thing, they’re like a nice reward, I think Sione (Katoa) scored an amazing try today, too,” he said. “But mate, those guys run through a brick wall for the team and have done for a long period of time now. “And Ronnie is infectious and others think he’s the sort of player you love to have on your team and not play against. “But probably more the harder stuff I reckon for Ron. Like the way he chases kicks and competes and contests everything, I thought he did that today. “He was chasing those kicks pretty hard today. So lovely reward for him to get past that that milestone.”