Roosters forwards stand up in 28-10 win over out of sorts Cronulla
THE Roosters refound the Midas touch and earned their third win of the season after downing an out of sorts Cronulla 28-10 at Shark Park.
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THE Roosters’ big men have been branded an unworthy premiership pack, but at Shark Park on Friday night they responded in style against the best bashers in the business.
A week after being put on notice following a woeful loss to the Warriors, the Tricolours muscled up in the middle to record a dominant win over Cronulla.
Props Dylan Napa, Sio Taukeiaho and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves set a powerful platform, opening the door for classy halves Cooper Cronk and Luke Keary to capitalise.
Cronk and Keary both produced two try assists and pinpoint kicking games to help the Roosters comprehensively overcome the usually dogged Sharks.
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The Roosters have now won consecutive matches against Cronulla after losing six straight.
Coach Trent Robinson praised his forward pack for hitting back after weeks of criticism.
“They’ve copped it,” Robinson said. “I hear it a lot and they hear it, but we haven’t had the ball.
“So some of it also isn’t their fault, but they wanted to stand up tonight and play better.
“It’s our best completion rate for the year, but now we need to keep doing it.”
Roosters co-captain Jake Friend said his forwards were determined to avenge last week’s dismal display against the Warriors.
“As a pack they definitely went after the game right from the start,” Friend said.
“But as Robbo said, possession is a big thing for those boys to get their runs.
“They haven’t been getting through the work that they wanted to for different reasons, but they all worked really well together.
“It’s easy to play off the back of those guys when they are setting that type of platform.”
Unheralded back-rower Ryan Matterson proved the unlikely hero for the Roosters with a double.
Robinson was rapt with Matterson’s effort, with and without the ball.
“He (Ryan) worked hard for that game,” he said.
“People will probably bring it up because he scored two tries, but I thought defensively he was very strong.
“Also, if you chase the ball enough when it is in the air, you’ll be in the right position.
“He worked hard to get into those positions. It’s not luck.
“Now the adventure continues. We’ve just got to make sure we hold onto some stuff we did tonight and we fight like hell to do it again next week.”
Matterson wasn’t alone in the standout stakes for the Roosters.
Co-captain Boyd Cordner was also brilliant in the back-row.
The NSW Origin skipper ran for a game-high 182 metres in his best performance of the season to date.
Blake Ferguson continued his impressive early-season form with a try assist and 163 running metres, while prized recruit James Tedesco crossed for his second four-pointer in Roosters’ colours.
Tedesco is slowly showing the type of form that earned him rave reviews at the Wests Tigers last season.
The Roosters made a statement, but the Sharks put together their worst performance of the season.
Matt Moylan produced a mixed display at fullback, filling in for Josh Dugan who withdrew before kick-off with a groin injury.
Moylan tried hard, but failed to deliver the big plays in a Sharks backline that is yet to find it’s mojo with Hodkinson and Townsend also vying for the ball.
Star winger Valentine Holmes was a sole bright spot for Cronulla, with two tries in otherwise forgettable night.
To compound the Sharks’ loss, hooker James Segeyaro left the field with concussion in the 63rd minute and failed to return.
Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan said Segeyaro appeared fine in the sheds post-match.
Flanagan wasn’t as positive about his side’s lacklustre performance, citing poor discipline for the defeat.
“Penalties late in tackle counts gifted them (the Roosters) possession in the first half in particular,” Flanagan said.
“At one stage in the second half we only had 30 per cent of possession, but I’ve got a really brave footy team.
“I was really proud of their defensive effort, but our offensive looked a bit clunky in the end because of all the defence we had to do.
“But we worked against ourselves in that first half with stupid penalties.”
Despite the disappointing discipline, Flanagan is confident his side can correct their errors.
“We’ll fix it and we’ll fix it real quick,” he said.
“The players know and I’ve got some good leaders to make sure it happens.”
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 28 (R Matterson 2 J Manu R Robinson J Tedesco tries L Mitchell 4 goals) bt CRONULLA 10 (V Holmes 2 tries C Townsend goal) at Southern Cross Group Stadium. Referee: Ben Cummins, Matt Noyen. Crowd: 11,855