Teig Wilton opened the scoring for Cronulla on his way to a hat-trick. Picture PR Image

Cronulla Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon says Teig Wilton is starting to show just how good he is after "playing busted for three years."

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The tough back-rower and centre KL Iro each scored a hat-trick of tries in the Sharks' 52-10 demolition of Wests Tigers at Ocean Protect Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Fitzgibbon was pleased with his team's response to him saying he thought they needed "an attitude check" after losing 46-34 to the Cowboys the previous week.

KL Iro joined in the scoring spree with a hat-trick of his own for the Sharks. Picture PR Image

He said that issue was addressed internally and there was an attitude adjustment.

"It's a long week when you perform like last week," he said.

"We played like the team we want to be today. It's a moment in time. You don't become something over 80 minutes, but it's a good start in the right direction.

"There was a bit more Sharks identity in that sort of performance tonight."

Asked about Wilton's performance, Fitzgibbon said he thought he was capable of playing at the representative level.

"I don't think we have seen the best of him," he said. "Teig's actually played busted for like three years straight...He has had injuries, but just played through them. that's what he can do."

Cronulla went on a try-scoring rampage to bring Wests Tigers crashing back down to earth. Photo: PR IMAGE PHOTO

The coach said Wilton was one of the "strongest leaders" in the team.

"He's got presence about him. He's a man of few words, but what he says matters.

"The way he plays, the players love him. He's very understated.

"I would like to see him get a year of back-up consistency of what he can show, because he's a helluva player."

Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall accused his side of playing "soft" after losing Adam Doueihi and Samuela Fainu to injury.

Marshall was adamant the news that captain Jarome Luai will leave for the PNG Chiefs in 2028 was not to blame for a performance the coach said was "unacceptable".

Luai's signing with the NRL's 19th franchise dominated headlines last week, but the five-eighth struggled to put his stamp on the game once Doueihi went off after 10 minutes with a shoulder issue.

The Tigers, without Doueihi, first-choice hooker Api Koroisau and fullback Jahream Bula, trailed 18-10 at halftime but failed to score a second-half point, with the Sharks runninmg riot.

"I thought we got taught a lesson by a classy side tonight on how to run hard and how to tackle hard, how to win the field position and apply pressure - and we got dominated," Marshall said.