Sydney Roosters sink Cronulla Sharks 16-14 to prove they are genuine NRL title contenders
CRONULLA’S premiership defence is in serious doubt after a tense 16-14 loss to the Sydney Roosters, who have proved they are genuine contenders.
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CRONULLA’S premiership defence is in serious doubt after a tense, two-point loss to the Sydney Roosters.
The Sharks had no answers to the Roosters’ brickwall-like defence and look set to miss out on a valuable top-four finish.
Last year’s champions must beat the Knights in Newcastle and hope Parramatta lose to Souths in the final round and Penrith go down in one of their two remaining matches to make the four.
In a further blow, the Sharks may be without star backrower Wade Graham, who left the field with a calf injury in the 20th minute and didn’t return.
Cronulla could also drop to as low as sixth on Sunday if Penrith beat the Dragons.
And they’ve only got themselves to blame after failing to take their chances against the Roosters.
With one minute remaining, Paul Gallen gifted the Roosters two points after holding down Boyd Cordner.
Michael Gordon made no mistake with the penalty goal to give the Roosters a huge win in the context of the season.
“He didn’t get to his feet to play the ball,” Sharks coach Shane Flanagan said.
“Gal made a legs tackle. If that is Andrew Fifita, I know what is happening there. It’s a scrum. Very, very frustrating. If anything it was a scrum to us.”
Gallen added: “It was put down as a leg pull, but I definitely didn’t pull his leg. I would have tried to do the same thing. Whether I would have got away with it is another thing.“
The win moved the Roosters into second position, placing them in the box seat to host a finals match in the opening week.
Trent Robinson’s men face the Titans at Allianz Stadium in the final round on Saturday.
Their triumph also snapped a six-game losing streak against Cronulla dating back to 2014.
More significantly, the Roosters have proved they are genuine contenders.
They were far from perfect, but their defence was outstanding.
After a torrid start, James Maloney opened the scoring in the eighth minute courtesy of a long-range penalty goal.
Michael Gordon levelled the scores four minutes later, before the Roosters found another gear and took the lead in the 17th minute after a barging try to lock Isaac Liu.
Cronulla looked rattled and clunky in attack, resulting in crucial errors at their end of the field.
Graham’s absence on the left side opened the door for the Roosters to extend their lead after 27 minutes when winger Blake Ferguson beat three defenders to score an impressive solo try.
Cronulla responded eight minutes from half-time with a try to fullback Val Holmes.
The Queensland flyer leapt on a perfectly placed kick from Maloney to reduce the Roosters’ lead to four points at the break.
Mistakes marred the opening 12 minutes of the second half, as the pressure of the result ramped up on the players.
A Gordon penalty goal in the 54th minute extended the Roosters’ lead to six.
The visitors bombed a certain try in the 63rd minute when Ferguson failed to collect a pass from a runaway Mitch Aubusson.
Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary was sent to the sin bin for holding down Luke Lewis in the 71st minute.
This gave the Sharks invaluable possession and Lewis made them pay to score and level the match at 14-all with six minutes remaining.
Maloney had a chance to win the match with a field goal in the 75th minute, but he hit the upright.
REACTION FROM CHOOKES
THE Roosters have all but wrapped up second position for week one of the finals and coach Trent Robinson wasn’t completely satisfied.
“I thought the way we had to defend was high class,” he said. “If you defend like that it is a really good sign. The way they kept moving and had people in different positions and moving and making tackles.
“Then when they went down 12 men, the force that they tackled with to repel them from getting into range for a field goal. That’s class.
“I also thought our attack was really good. The questions that we asked, the opportunities we got, but then some of the errors and missed opportunities we didn’t finish off.
“That was the disappointing part.”
Robinson said Luke Keary’s sin-binning with nine minutes remaining was the right call, but he wasn’t happy with the officials’ consistency on professional fouls.
Keary’s opposing five-eighth James Maloney avoided the sin bin in the 16th minute despite laying on fullback Michael Gordon following a 70-metre run.
“The tackle was finished and Maloney tackles him in the midriff and doesn’t go to the bin,” he said.
“They were identical and they should have had the identical response. It baffles how they can’t have their identical response.”
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 16 (B Ferguson I Liu tries M Gordon 4 goals) bt CRONULLA 14 (V Holmes L Lewis tries J Maloney 3 goals) at Southern Cross Group Stadium. Referee: Matt Cecchin, Alan Shortall. Crowd: 17,268
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