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Canterbury have smashed Cronulla 26-6 with Ben Barba starring with two tries to remind Queensland selectors of his talents.
Canterbury fullback Ben Barba gave Queensland a timely reminder of his talents as he engineered a 26-6 NRL win for the Bulldogs over Cronulla on Monday night at ANZ Stadium.
The Maroons decided they didn't need the dynamic No.1 on their bench for game one this Wednesday night, but State of Origin is a long series and Barba continued to push his case with a blistering two-try display.
Barba made it 18 tries from his last 16 matches at ANZ Stadium - a record comparable to Manly fullback Brett Stewart's feats at Brookvale Oval - to consolidate the Bulldogs' position in the top eight.
Canterbury surged to a 24-0 halftime lead, and although the Sharks kept things tight in the second half, without captain Paul Gallen and star Todd Carney there to inspire them, they surrendered their place in the top four to Manly.
Barba was electric from the back and was on hand to score after just seven minutes, backing up a 30 metre line-break from hole-running second rower Dene Halatau.
Moments later he played beautifully out the back of a left-side attacking raid to put centre Tim Lafai over for a 12-0 lead after just 10 minutes.
And in the final minute before halftime, Barba chased through a perfectly placed Josh Reynolds grubber.
Barba showed his full array of talents on Monday - mixing scintillating ball running with intelligent defensive plays at the back.
Cronulla saw the match slip from their grasp midway through the first half, when Jeff Robson butchered a certain try, before they fell victim to a controversial video referee decision down the other end which saw the Bulldogs skip away to 18-0.
A 70 metre dash from Colin Best should have resulted in a Sharks try from the ensuing play - but instead of passing to the four-man overlap to his right, Robson went himself and the golden chance died.
When video ref Chris Ward ruled centre Jonathan Wright didn't knock on into the hands of Cronulla winger John Williams before regathering and touching down off a Reynolds bomb, it was always going to be a long way back.
Captain Jeremy Smith surged over for the Sharks four minutes after halftime to give the visitors hope, but they didn't offer enough in attack.
Journeyman Luke MacDougall dislocated his elbow in his first game for the Bulldogs, while prop Sam Kasiano could once again attract the attention of the match review committee for an awkward first half tackle on Sharks second rower Sam Tagataese.
Canterbury captain Michael Ennis said Barba was continuing to assert himself as one of the most dangerous players in the game.
"Benny's a special player. He's worked really hard on his game and since I've come to the club he's really matured and developed," Ennis said.
Bulldogs halfback Trent Hodkinson made his return from a knee injury in the final 15 minutes against the Sharks and while coach Des Hasler is happy with his stocks in the halves, he's growing concerned about his depth in the outside backs with MacDougall's injury.
Hasler was happy with how his team came out of the blocks but said there's plenty of room for improvement.
"We've got a bit to work on but very happy with the win," he said.
"It was essential that we won tonight.
"Cronulla were probably a little flat coming out of a very tough game against Melbourne."
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan agreed but said it's not panic stations with a bye next week.
Flanagan conceded that the Sharks struggled in attack without star No.6 Carney, but said they'll learn to cope for the rest of the Origin period.
"I will excuse tonight but I won't excuse it too often," he said.
"I am really proud of what they've done to date but I'm not proud of what we did tonight as a group.
"We were off the pace. We knew what they were going to throw at us but we sat back and watched them do it to us."