Cronulla have sent shockwaves through the NRL with a 44-12 hammering of fellow contenders the Sydney Roosters on Saturday.

On the same weekend Melbourne flexed their premiership muscle with a smash up of Brisbane, the Sharks sent a reminder the premiership isn’t a one-horse race.

The Sharks put in easily their best performance of the season, with Wade Graham leading the way with two try assists and 108 metres.

Penalties, completions and handling errors have been Shane Flanagan’s side’s Achilles heel this year, however looked finely tuned in the seven-tries-to-two rout.

Centre Ricky Leutele scored a double as the premiers made a big statement about their ability to go back-to-back.

They completed 33 of 37 sets, made just four errors and won the penalty count 6-5 to leapfrog the Roosters on the ladder, who went into the weekend in second.

The Sharks headed into the break up 20-12 after Sosaia Feki crossed in the 39th minute, however there were question marks over James Maloney’s pass to Graham in the lead up.

With Sydney Roosters and NSW skipper Boyd Cordner sitting on the sidelines, Graham proved he was ready to answer the call should he be drafted into the Blues’ starting side for State of Origin III.

He was sharp all day down the Sharks’ left edge, running and creating space for Leutele’s four-pointer 11 minutes after the resumption.

And when Andrew Fifita popped an offload, despite the attention of three defenders, Gerard Beale crossed in the corner to open up a 20-point lead and send Roosters fans heading for the exits.

The game was summed up when Luke Lewis latched onto a Friend pass to run 80 metres to score, the 34-year-old veteran’s second long-range intercept try in as many weeks.