A big part of Craig Fitzgibbon as a coach comes from the lessons learned as the long-term understudy to Trent Robinson. While he’s no longer the apprentice to the Roosters coach, Fitzgibbon was served one more lesson from his old boss who masterminded the end of the Sharks’ perfect home record this season.

The Roosters became the first team to walk away from Shark Park with two points this season after sealing a 36-16 win over Cronulla, with the scoreline more than flattering the hosts.

“It wasn’t a very pleasant experience [coaching against the Roosters]. Next time we’ll prepare better,” Fitzgibbon said. “They’re a well-built club, a well-built team, well-coached team - and they played that way tonight.”

Robinson’s side kept the Sharks scoreless for the first 55 minutes and by the time Cronulla got going, the Roosters had already scored five of their seven tries in a dominant first hour led by fullback James Tedesco.

The man who will be handed the Blues No.1 jersey on Sunday evening for State of Origin I ensured he’ll head into NSW camp in fine form after scoring a try and setting up two others on Saturday night.

“For guys that are about to go into Origin and the ability to stay focused, stay in your lane ... I get to see it a lot with him, the incredible nature of being able to stay in the moment,” Robinson said of Tedesco. “It’s pretty impressive.”

Tedesco’s display was perhaps the highlight, while Daniel Tupou did his hopes of a surprise Blues call-up no harm with an excellent showing. The seven-time Origin winger began the Roosters’ onslaught after just four minutes. Hooker Drew Hutchinson caught Cronulla off-guard when he ran on the fifth and flick-passed to Tupou to cross for a try.

Tupou extended the Roosters’ lead midway through the half when finishing a slick move from a scrum. A routine hatched on the training ground and executed to perfection left the Sharks chasing shadows as Tedesco put Tupou into space to score untouched in the left corner, extending the visitors’ lead to 10-0.