Sharks 13 Broncos 6

TOUGHNESS comes from many places. Staring down the barrel of a gun, for instance - or looking down the lens of a television camera.

After leading the Sharks to a seven-point win - prompting coach Ricky Stuart to shower praise on his "tough mob" - halfback Brett Kimmorley revealed the catalyst for the performance was his weekly run-through of the NRL teams on pay TV last Tuesday.

"Earlier in the week, I probably thought some of [Brisbane's] players got in the Origin probably a bit surprisingly, and they were going to be a bit depleted," the halfback said. "[Then] I read the team and it was a kick in the guts straight away.

"They've got a good footy team. It just triggered me that I had to change my attitude."

So he owned up, telling his teammates that despite losing six players to Origin this week, the Broncos did actually look good on paper.

"He came forward, which takes a bit of courage, and said deep down he was thinking we should get this game because they had so many out, but when he read the team, he saw that they were a good footy team still," Stuart said.

It was an ugly game last night. Gone to the dogs, really. So it was fitting that the player who has done the same should have the decisive hand.

Just 24 hours after signing his Cronulla life away to join the Bulldogs, Kimmorley orchestrated the win, setting up the Sharks' first of two tries and then kicking the game-clinching field goal as the club won their first game at home since August last year.

Not pretty but effective. That's Noddy. And that is the Sharks too. They endured huge pressure to be just 6-4 down at half-time, which set up their second-half slog.

"I said to them at half-time, I still wouldn't be disappointed if we were sitting here and we were 12 or 14 points down, because of the amount of ball [Brisbane] had," Stuart said.

"I complimented the players on their mental attitude towards their defence. They were tough. Everyone knows we're a tough mob. We've got a real spirit within. We're a tough footy team, a tough group of blokes, and we've got spirit there that's getting us through those types of wins."

Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, while "delighted" with their effort, blamed 10 minutes of ill-discipline after half-time - as well as anxiety due to the player drain - for the loss.

CRONULLA 13 (B Kearney M Talaupapa tries L Covell 2 goals B Kimmorley field goal) bt BRISBANE 6 (T Carroll try M Ennis goal) at Toyota Park. Referee: Jared Maxwell. Crowd: 13,431.