The Sharks' five-game losing streak was a thing of the past when they headed to the sheds at Jack Neal Oval holding a commanding 48-16 lead in a half where tackling appeared to be optional.

They then put the cue in the rack and fumbled their way through the second half.

Halfback Joey Cudmore led the way with a personal haul of 22 points as the defending premiers moved back into the top five.

It came at the expense of Forster-Tuncurry who suffered a heartbreaking 31-30 loss at Kempsey two hours later.

"We got the monkey off the back, that was the main thing," Sharks coach Ben Kirkland said.

"Hopefully it brings some confidence for a big finish into the back end of the year."

Teenage centre Oli Nosworthy crossed for four tries and was a constant threat in attack for the visitors.

"I think he's a kid that's starting to figure out that I picked him because he's good enough," Kirkland said.

"That's the thing with a few of them ... I think they're all still figuring out their spots in the team and if they are good enough.

"A kid like him is a perfect example; he knows he's good enough now."

While pleased to return to the winner's list after a difficult five weeks, the coach was disappointed with their effort in the second half.

"We dropped a fair bit of footy in the second half, but that's the way it goes," he said.

"I didn't care if we won by two or if we won by 42. It was the result that counted, but our attitude in defence wasn't as good as it has been that's for sure.

"We leaked three pretty easy tries through the middle which is what we pride ourselves on."

Kirkland conceded the Sharks benefited from a Bulls side who were ravaged by injury although they still got the job done.

"They had a fair few injuries the poor buggers; they're going through what we were going through at the start of the year and missing six or seven players," he said.

"We did to them what Wingham did to us and blew them away in 20 minutes and the game was gone by halftime."

The Sharks next task is Old Bar on Sunday who will be confident following an upset win over Wauchope.

After the Pirates, Port Macquarie face Wauchope, Forster and Wingham in the run to the finals.

"Old Bar are playing well; I'm not sure what's happened there," Kirkland said.

"I watched them once and then when we played them I found it a bit bamboozling that they hadn't won many games because they're not a bad side.

"They're definitely out to spoil everyone's party so it will be much tougher again this weekend.

"We've got them and from there we've got three sides who are in contention for the finals after that so it's a tough few weeks but if we play well we should go alright."

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