Shark attack: Cronulla mauls Canberra in Ricky's 500th

But unfortunately it didn't turn into an Irish ballad for Canberra Raiders hooker Danny Levi.

He dropped the ball cold with the tryline begging in the first half as the Raiders were on the wrong end of a Sharks attack.

Cronulla thrashed them 40-0 at Canberra Stadium on Sunday, the home team plagued by simple errors.

Making those errors especially costly was the fact a lot of them were scoring opportunities that could have potentially changed the course of the game.

Instead, Sharks halfback Nicho Hynes orchestrated a masterclass to guide the visitors to a comfortable win.

He scored a try, set up two more and kicked a 40-20 in a big day out for the No.7.

The biggest of those missed opportunities was Levi's potential try.

Canberra's rake was perfectly placed to cash in on some nice play between Sebastian Kris and Xavier Savage, which sent Savage away down the left wing.

He turned the ball inside for Levi, who only had the tryline to beat.

But with just 20 metres to go he dropped the ball.

And what could've got the Raiders back to 12-6, quickly became 18-0 when the Sharks cashed in on the mistake.

Levi was brought from the field - the first time he hasn't played the entire first half this season.

Things got worse from there as the Sharks ran rampant, in what was a sad celebration of Canberra coach Ricky Stuart's 500^th NRL game.

To make matters worse, Raiders second-rower Hudson Young was put on report for a hair-pull on Braden Hamlin-Uele.

Sharks winger Ronaldo Mulitalo was also put on report - for tackling Canberra fullback Chevy Stewart in the air.

On a positive, the Raiders could welcome back their captain Elliott Whitehead next week. He's close to a return from a calf injury.

Raiders halfback Kaeo Weekes made a solid start on his club debut, putting in some good kicks early - but it was a tough initiation for him as part of the youngest Raiders halves and fullback trio in the club's history.

It started out as an end-to-end arm wrestle for the opening 13 minutes, until Teig Wilton split the Raiders' right edge in two.

After a series of offloads, it eventually led to Cam McInnes diving over from close range to open the scoring.

Missed tackles started to creep into the Raiders' defence and Sharks big bopper Thomas Hazelton brushed off Joe Tapine to cruise over.

That crept into the Raiders' attack as well as they dropped a series of golden chances.

Levi dropped the most golden of them all.

It turned into a 12-point play with the Sharks going straight up the other end for Sione Katoa to score in the corner off the back of an overlap.

It sent the visitors up 18-0 and was a crushing blow for the Green Machine.

The fumbles spread from there, with Canberra winger James Schiller spilling the ball with a good chance to break down the right.

To complete the hat-trick, Simi Sasagi then bombed a close-range chance - although to be fair, the pass from Weekes was a little high.

At least they didn't let Cronulla score again and it remained three-tries-to-nil at half-time.

To continue the Raiders' theme of what could've been, five-eighth Ethan Strange did everything but score after a great solo run - only to lose the ball in the put down thanks to a great Will Kennedy tackle.

Of course, the Sharks went straight up the other end with Nicho Hynes putting second-rower Briton Nikora over to snuff out any chance of a Raiders fightback.

Savage then went to sleep to allow Hynes to kick a 40-20, with the Sharks halfback finishing the chance off himself.

Katoa scored his second, then Sharks winger Jesse Ramien heaped further misery on the Raiders.

Things don't get any easier for the Raiders, travelling to Brookvale to take on Manly on Friday.

AT A GLANCE

CRONULLA SHARKS 40 (Sione Katoa 2, Cam McInnes, Thomas Hazelton, Briton Nikora, Nicho Hynes, Jesse Ramien tries; Hynes 6 goals) bt CANBERRA RAIDERS 0 at Canberra Stadium. Referee: Peter Gough. Crowd: 15,820.