Cooper Cronk hurt as Roosters thump Broncos 36-4 in Sydney
The Sydney Roosters on Thursday night marched hapless Brisbane off our sacred SCG turf without a win and without much dignity in a 36-4 mismatch in wet conditions.
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The Sydney Roosters marched hapless Brisbane off our sacred SCG turf without a win and without much dignity on Thursday night.
The Broncos had never played a game at the SCG in the club’s 31-year history — and they won’t rush back.
The Roosters dominated Brisbane in a 36-4 mismatch. Four first-half tries and three more in the second half as the Roosters piled on points faster at the ground than cricketers during summer.
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“That’s our best game this year,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
No Queensland team has played at the SCG since the Wally Lewis-led Maroons ran out in 1987.
“It hurts,” Brisbane coach Anthony Seibold said. “They were a 30-point better team, that’s the reality. We got a lesson.”
The best hit of the night came when Roosters trainer Travis Touma decked a ground invader late in the match.
The Roosters looked sharp and powerful, and swarmed in defence. It will take one hell of a team to stop them winning back-to-back titles.
KING KEARY
Luke Keary is locked in a battle with incumbent James Maloney and South Sydney’s Cody Walker for the NSW five-eighth spot.
On Thursday night, Keary played a role in four tries and put Zane Tetevano over for another, only for the Roosters forward to spill the ball.
“He was busy and trying everything. Some of it came off, some didn’t,” Robinson said.
He was heavily involved and increased his workload when Cronk left the field. It has almost reached the stage where the NSW spot is there for Keary to lose.
“Luke has a great temperament and is a terrific kid,” Cronk said.
Old Mr Reliable, Mitch Aubusson, chipped in with two tries, while Angus Crichton’s performance was also ultra impressive.
TERRIFIC TEDDY
A super solo try in the 63rd minute capped a wonderful match for James Tedesco.
His attack is brilliant but no one should underestimate his defence. Tedesco scrambled and slid everywhere, holding up Broncos centre Kotoni Staggs over the tryline in a key second-half moment.
His try was amazing. He stepped and moved past four defenders to score a four-pointer few others could have. He also ran for 209m and made six tackle busts.
“He was the best rugby league player in the world last year,” Robinson said. Asked had his opinion changed, Robinson said: “No.”
COOPER’S COMEBACK
It was Cronk’s comeback match after missing two matches with a hamstring injury — and it ended with another injury.
Cronk left the field with 27 minutes remaining with a back injury.
It also appeared he injured his shoulder during a tackle on Brisbane winger Corey Oates.
He sat on the sideline but did not return but the injury was not related to an earlier illegal hit from Brisbane forward Tevita Pangai Jr.
Before the injury, Cronk looked busy, efficient and creative.
RAZZLE-DAZZLE ROOSTERS
The Roosters scored four first-half tries to lead 20-0 at halftime.
It was total domination from a side which is clearly the best in the competition. That doesn’t guarantee the Roosters premiership success, but who is going to beat them?
They have a little bit of everything — speed, aggression, size, power and creativity.
The home side led 22-0 at halftime in the slippery conditions a halftime.
A late try to Joseph Manu involved kicks, flick passes and Hail Marys — it was freakish stuff.
LISTEN! Pressure on the Clearys, Ponga’s missing spark and rich pickings for the Blues. Plus Matty’s confrontation with “The Animal”. Don’t miss this week’s episode of The Matty Johns podcast with Paul Kent and James Hooper.
BUSTED BRONCOS
The wheels are still spinning in the mud for coach Anthony Seibold.
Brisbane have now won just one of four games and the Seibold experiment is under early pressure. The Broncos were blown away and looked well off the pace.
They panicked in defence against an up-tempo Roosters, who could easily have scored more tries.
SCG pitch invader gets tackled by a Roosters trainer.#9WWOS #NRL #NRLRoostersBroncos pic.twitter.com/DkQ0cu3xmw
— NRL on Nine (@NRLonNine) 4 April 2019
Brisbane missed 35 tackles and made 15 errors.
“We missed a heap of tackles and they are the premiers for a reason,” Seibold said. “We didn’t put any pressure on them. They did a job on our forward pack.”
LACHLAN’S LOVE
Lachlan Murdoch, chairman and chief executive of Fox Corp in the USA and executive co-chair of News Corp, watched on at the SCG with wife Sarah and family.
Despite his love of Sydney, Murdoch remains a staunch Broncos fan and he sat high in the new Noble Stand watching his team struggle.
“Once a Broncos fan, always a Broncos fan,” Murdoch said before kick-off. “The only other team I go for are the Maroons.”
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 36 (M Aubusson 2 A Crichton M Ikuvalu J Manu J Tedesco D Tupou tries L Mitchell 4 goals) bt BRISBANE 4 (M Gillett try) at Sydney Cricket Ground. Referee: Phil Henderson, Ashley Klein. Crowd: 9,304.
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