In their first outing since halfback Nicho Hynes was ruled out for eight weeks with an ankle injury, the Sharks showed a ruthless edge that has been missing over their previous run of three straight losses.
The makeshift halves pairing of Brayden Trindall and Daniel Atkinson impressed on Friday as winger Ronaldo Mulitalo bagged his first NRL hat-trick in front of a 10,912 crowd at Shark Park.
The Tigers threatened briefly in the first half but a 17th-minute sin-binning to Api Koroisau was the catalyst for Cronulla's 10-try rout.
Koroisau failed to finish the second half with a suspected calf injury.
In-demand Tigers prop Stefano Utoikamanu once again struggled to fire for Benji Marshall's side, clocking up just 75 run metres and missing four tackles in another underwhelming showing.
The Tigers remain last on the NRL ladder and have conceded 138 points in their last three games, with Marshall's men getting off to the worst possible start when Kayal Iro busted over inside two minutes.
Solomona Faataape hit back but then the Sharks began to show their quality when Mulitalo scorched upfield from deep inside his own half and then finished in the corner off the next set.
Ronaldo Mulitalo touches down for one of his three tries against the hapless Tigers. (Dan Himbrechts/AAP PHOTOS)
Koroisau was sin-binned as the Sharks made another break and the Tigers hooker jumped out at marker to slap the ball loose.
Referee Adam Gee claimed Tigers captain Koroisau was deliberately not square at marker and sent him to the sin bin for a professional foul, Sione Katoa going in soon after.
Back to 13, the Tigers knocked at Cronulla's line for three straight sets as halftime approached.
But their attack was rudderless and Jesse Ramien picked off an Aiden Sezer pass with Katoa finishing on the same set to give the home side a 24-6 halftime lead.
From there everything went bad to worse for the visitors with Koroisau, Utoikamanu and back-rower Alex Seyfarth all failing to finish the game.
Cronulla ran in six second-half tries, Mulitalo bagging two of them as Briton Nikora, Braden Hamlin-Uele and Trindall also crossed.
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