Ben Barba failed to fire against his old side as Brisbane opened their account for the NRL season with an unconvincing 10-2 win over Cronulla at Remondis Stadium.

The Broncos got their first win of the year thanks to two lucky second half tries but failed to answer some of the big questions being asked of Wayne Bennett’s men.

After the Sharks went into the break up 2-0 following an underwhelming first half, the Broncos got over the line thanks to the rub of the green, much to the chagrin of the 8369-strong crowd.

The Broncos’ first try was typical of the game – ugly.

Winger Corey Oates dived over the line after swooping on a Jack Reed offload which appeared to go forward.

Brisbane went further ahead when Lachlan Maranta dived on a loose ball that popped out when Sam Thaiday jammed Sosaia Feki on the goal-line.

During the week it was questioned whether five-eighth Anthony Milford would have been better served moving back to fullback and he had a mixed night, dropping the ball twice inside his side’s 20 metre zone.

Barba, who had a poor showing the week before in his first game in Cronulla colours, didn’t make a real impact on the contest.

Brisbane fullback Jordan Kahu relieved some of the pressure on his position with a solid showing under the high ball as well as making a try-saving tackle on Jayson Bukuya in the 71st minute.

Poor handling was a theme in slippery conditions with both sides making 12 errors each, with Cronulla in particular guilty of dropping the ball when trying to build pressure.

Bennett said while his side’s execution was not up to scratch, he was proud of the heart they showed to keep out the Sharks.

“We’re not playing free-flowing football. We’re not entertaining at the moment but we’re gutsy,” Bennett said.

“If we keep turning up, then that’s a good starting point.”

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan described Barba’s night as “indifferent” and said it was taking him longer to gel with the rest of the Cronulla squad than what he would have liked.

“I need him to get his hands on the ball a little bit more for us,” Flanagan said.

“We need to adapt to him and he needs to adapt to us. It’s a work in progress … Our previous five-eighth used to get his hands on the ball and run it a fair bit and the guys are probably used to that within the club.”