Teen sensation Bronson Xerri bagged a brace to make it five tries in two games, while co-captain Wade Graham went unscathed in his return from an ACL injury.

Young halfback Kyle Flanagan also scored a try and kicked seven from eight attempts for an individual 18-point haul on Saturday.

After some early-season adversity with cap breaches and injuries, the Sharks produced one of their best displays of the year to lead 38-6 after an hour.

Sharks coach John Morris admitted he was keen to see the combination between Graham and Xerri, who was moved to the left edge to good effect.

"I've been keen to have a look at it actually. Bronson's played a lot of his footy on the left but I'm open to playing him on the right," Morris said.

"Wade coming back in, anyone outside him is going to see a bit more ball so it was good for Bronson to get a bit more ball outside him."

Eels Maika Sivo, Josh Hoffman and Michael Jennings added some respectability to the scoreline before Aaron Gray iced the Sharks' victory late.

Cronulla remain in sixth spot but are now equal on 16 points with fourth-placed Canberra and Newcastle ahead of next week's clash with the Raiders.

The Eels received a pre-game boost when the club announced a contract extension for Mitchell Moses an hour before kick-off.

But they were condemned in the fourth minute when skipper Clint Gutherson wobbled off concussed after a collision with Josh Dugan.

Xerri split them apart not long after, and the signs were ominous when Andrew Fifita trampled over Moses in the 25th minute.

A Sivo try stemmed the tide, but the backbreaker came seconds before halftime when Dugan crashed over despite a knock-on in the build-up.

Any hopes of a comeback were put to bed when another Xerri break set up Chad Townsend soon after halftime, followed by two further tries.

Fifita laid the foundation with 130 metres, six tackle breaks and four offloads - in addition to his try - in a barnstorming opening 32-minute stint.

But he was supported by a bench trio of Jack Williams, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Graham, all of whom cracked the 100-metre barrier.

The Eels have now lost four of their past five and are in danger of dropping out of the NRL top eight by the end of the round.

"It's not great, losing a fullback and having to play (David Gower) at six and move Will (Smith) around," irate coach Brad Arthur said.

"But we've got to decide whether we want to be a full-time team or a part-time team. Full-time is all the time, every week."

Australian Associated Press