Senior's Report: Roosters Remain Undefeated in Jersey Flegg

At the end of the first set of the match the Bears were awarded a penalty, gifting them easy field position. They opened the scoring on the next set with Paul Momirovski dragging a defender over the line and planting the ball down for an early four-point advantage.

Midway through the first half, a strong attacking set from the Bears carried them deep into the Roosters’ territory for the fifth tackle. A creative chip kick towards the in-goal from five-eighth Jesse Marschke was chased down by halves partner Ben Stevanovic, who scored to boost North Sydney’s lead, with Marschke kicking the conversion to cement.a 10-point advantage.

The Bears scored again from the next set after the restart, with Stevanovic scooping up another loose ball to cross the stripe and extend North Sydney’s tally to 14.

After Roosters captain Sandon Smith dived on a loose offload to win possession back, the Tricolours began to put some pressure on the Bears in a bid to bring the game back into balance. Having received a penalty and then forcing a dropout, Easts were well and truly on the front foot when a chip kick towards the in-goal was fielded spectacularly by Momirovski, winning the ball back for his team and miraculously escaping the in-goal.

At the end of the set, the Bears were awarded a penalty on the last tackle for an illegal ball strip, gifting them field position. They made the most of the opportunity, with back rower Dane Aukafolau charging onto a short ball close to the line and spinning through a tackle to offload to fullback Josh Bergamin who crossed the stripe untouched.

With his team making 70 metres off the next set after kick-off, Stevanovic put up a testing high ball to Ethan King, who had it snatched out of his grasp by Bears winger Tuipulotu Katoa who scored North Sydney’s fifth try of the first half, extending their convincing lead to 24-0 with nine minutes left of the half.

Receiving back-to-back penalties, the Roosters had a full set deep in enemy territory as they searched for their first points. A perfectly executed play out the back saw five-eighth Joseph Whitikama Temara Taipari send Elie El-Zakhem into a gap off a short ball, opening the Red, White and Blue’s account for the match just three minutes before half time. The sides headed into the sheds with Easts trailing 24-6.

The opening 20 minutes of the second half were riddled with heavy hits and infringements from both teams as the wet conditions and fatigue began to take its toll.  The Tricolours broke the stalemate with a slick right-edge play, with the quick hands of Ethan Clark-Wood sending winger Allan Fitzgibbon over in the corner.

An error from the Bears’ fullback under a high ball kicked by Smith gave the Roosters possession close to the try-line. They were able to take full advantage of the opportunity, running the ball on the last and scoring an almost identical try to the one they scored 10 minutes earlier, with Ethan King providing a perfect pass to Fitzgibbon to fly through and score in the 69th minute.

Despite holding North Sydney scoreless in the second half, the Roosters fell short of completing their comeback, with the Bears claiming a 24-14 victory. Easts will be looking to find their first away win of the season next week when they visit the Canberra Raiders at Belconnen on Good Friday.

Written by Ellery Behan

Jersey Flegg

The Sydney Roosters kept their unbeaten streak alive in the Jersey Flegg Cup over the weekend, crushing the Melbourne Storm 38-10 at Waminda Oval on Sunday afternoon.

The Tricolours scored five unanswered tries in the first-half, entering the break with a handy 28-point lead, before Melbourne opened their account in the 47th minute.

Hugo Savala got the Roosters off to an ideal start, scoring in the fifth minute after Max McCathie broke the Storm defensive line, offloading to Owen Flaherty who eventually found his halfback, putting him over under the uprights. Savala converted his own try to give the Red, White and Blue an early lead.

Isaac Guba found the stripe eight minutes later, after a brilliant cut-out ball created a three-on-two left edge overlap, giving the Roosters a 10-point lead.

Guba made a 60-metre run two minutes later to set up the Tricolours third try of the afternoon. Streaming down the sideline, the winger connected with his fullback before the ball found five-eighth Tyler Colley, who juggled the ball before diving over the line. Savala added the extras to make the difference 16.

The Roosters found a further 12 points before the end of the opening half, with Alan Holten and Kyron Fekitoa crossing for tries, while Savala kicked both conversions to ensure Easts headed to the sheds with a 28-point lead.

Eager to remain undefeated, the Tricolours came out of the sheds firing, sending centre Vaiala Tamati over in the 41st minute, for their sixth try of the match. Savala made the conversion to give the Roosters to an unbreakable lead.

Melbourne found the try-line twice in the second-half, with Ammaron Gudgeon and De’Ontae Perese scoring four-pointers and captain Keagan Russell-Smith kicked one of two conversions, but a try in the final two minutes to Guba confirmed the Roosters would remain unbeaten into Round 6 of the season.  

The Sydney Roosters will now face the Newcastle Knights on Easter Sunday at McDonald Jones Stadium in a triple-header.