After they trailed 16-0 inside 16 minutes in Perth, the Roosters roared back to life with Daly Cherry-Evans scoring a double and Mark Nawaqanitawase at his athletic best.
But the game was overshadowed by a bizarre disruptor call in the first half.
Robert Toia was denied a try when the bunker ruled he contacted Sam Stonestreet's arm in a contest for a bomb where the Sharks winger spilled the ball.
The Sharks then went downfield and Tom Hazelton crossed to make it 22-6.
The disruptor rule has been one of the league's biggest talking points in recent weeks, with Brisbane also denied a try against North Queensland on Friday night.
Asked if he understood the rule anymore, Robinson responded: "I did".
"The direction they were heading was right. There was too much disturbing of fullbacks, there were people who weren't competing," he continued.
"That's gone too far. That was a clear example of two guys in a contest, two guys are looking at a ball. That's an over-compensation.
"If someone tries to defend that, we're headed in the wrong direction. That's the most extreme (we've had). I know there was a bit last night in the Brisbane game.
"But I don't think anyone can argue that was a disruptor."
Roosters captain James Tedesco also claimed the bunker was slowing replays "down to the millisecond".
The NRL has previously been able to explain what indicators they are using for contentious decisions through head of football Graham Annesley's weekly briefings.
However those were cancelled by the NRL at the start of last season, with the league's head of football now effectively stopped from publicly explaining decisions.
"I'm a bit lost now. Theirs was a tough one in the first half," Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon said.
"It's like anything they shine a light on it and it comes to the forefront of everyone's mind, it keeps happening. Then it goes away and something else comes in."
That ruling was only the start of the Roosters' first-half issues, as they made seven errors in the opening 25 minutes and trailed 16-0.
But they rebounded when Sam Walker engineered a break down the left and scored from it, before his bomb for Daniel Tupou on halftime made it 22-12.
Cherry-Evans then claimed his 100th NRL try when he put up a bomb and Nawaqanitawase batted back into his hands, reducing the margin to four.
And after Tupou crossed to level the scores, Nawaqanitawase and Cherry-Evans again combined when the Roosters winger put on a flick pass for his five-eighth.
Victor Radley scored late in his return match - after also putting on a key run in the lead up to Tupou's go-ahead try - in his early return from a club-imposed 10-game ban.
The one positive for Cronulla was Blayke Brailey inching closer to the NSW No.9 jersey, outshining incumbent Reece Robson at dummy-half.
Brailey put Jesse Colquhoun, Braydon Trindall and Hazelton through gaping holes for first-half tries.
"He's definitely played well again today, I thought he sparked us and defended well," Fitzgibbon said.
"He's an incredible player so I would love to see him get a shot."
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