Brisbane Broncos players were left in tears after Saturday's 26-16 defeat to the New Zealand Warriors consigned them to a sixth successive NRL loss, while the Penrith Panthers moved up to second.

The Broncos were guilty of making numerous rookie errors throughout the contest, with Anthony Milford culpable for one of the biggest in the first half when overplaying and then attempting an offload as he fell to the ground, gifting possession straight back when a try might have been in the offing.

Thomas Flegler then gave the ball away in the second half when the Broncos were in with a chance of retaking the lead – as it was, the Warriors went on to clinch the win with three tries in the final 12 minutes.

The reality of the Broncos' situation was too much for some players at full-time, with Alex Glenn and Brodie Croft seen crying as a sixth defeat on the bounce was confirmed.

There were contrasting emotions for the Panthers, however, as they came out on top 19-12 at Wests Tigers in a tightly contested affair.

A feisty encounter was deadlocked at 12-12 heading into the final stages, but a field goal courtesy of Nathan Cleary in the 71st minute put the pressure back on Tigers and they were unable to rise to the occasion.

Dylan Edwards went over soon after and a Cleary conversion gave the Tigers too much to do, with Penrith going second in the ladder.

The most dominant performance of the day came in Robina, however, as Cronulla Sharks crushed the Gold Coast Titans 40-10 to claim a third consecutive win.

A tight first half saw Cronulla take a slender 12-10 lead into the break, but it was a completely different story in the second period as the Sharks cruised to victory despite having lost full-back Matt Moylan to a hamstring injury, moving them up to seventh.