The Sydney Roosters claimed their fifth-straight win on Saturday night, defeating the South Sydney Rabbitohs 26-12 in a fiercely-fought contest at Accor Stadium.
Sam Walker controlled Friday's proceedings, setting up Easts' first point-scoring play with a precise kick before adding the nail into South Sydney's coffin with a chip-and-chase try in the dying minutes.
Young prop Terrell May executed a number blistering runs in his 51 minute stint, recording 177 metres with ball in-hand - 80 of those coming after initial contact.
While gritty defence from Brandon Smith and Victor Radley turned the Rabbitohs away on an number of occasions; with the hooker and lock combo making a combined total of 79 tackles.
Round 27 Match Highlights: Roosters vs Rabbitohs
Point Scorers
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: 6 points (three goals)
- James Tedesco: 4 points (one try)
- Fetalaiga Pauga: 4 points (one try)
- Corey Allan: 4 points (one try)
- Sam Walker: 4 points (one try)
Most Run Metres
- Fetalaiga Pauga: 225 metres (22 runs)
- James Tedesco: 201 metres (19 runs)
- Terrell May: 177 metres (16 runs)
- Victor Radley: 130 metres (12 runs)
- Egan Butcher: 130 metres (10 runs)
- Lindsay Collins: 127 metres (13 runs)
- Billy Smith: 113 metres (11 runs)
Post Contact Metres
- Terrell May: 80 metres
- James Tedesco: 59 metres
- Fetalaiga Pauga: 58 metres
- Victor Radley: 56 metres
- Lindsay Collins: 46 metres
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: 42 metres
Top Tacklers
- Victor Radley: 40 tackles
- Brandon Smith: 39 tackles
- Lindsay Collins: 32 tackles
- Terrell May: 32 tackles
- Siua Wong: 31 tackles
- Nat Butcher: 27 tackles
Most Tackle Breaks
- James Tedesco: 6
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: 4
- Fetalaiga Pauga: 4
- Billy Smith: 3
- Brandon Smith: 3
- Egan Butcher: 3
Offloads
- Angus Crichton: 2
- Siua Wong: 2
- Fletcher Baker: 1
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: 1
- Luke Keary: 1
- James Tedesco: 1
Line Breaks
- Billy Smith: 2
- Fetalaiga Pauga: 2
- Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: 1
- Egan Butcher: 1
Try Assists
- James Tedesco: 1
- Fetalaiga Pauga: 1
- Sam Walker: 1
Robinson & Tedesco: Round 27 Press Conference
Overall Match Statistics
| Statistics | Roosters | Rabbitohs |
|---|---|---|
| Possession | 49% | 51% |
| Completion Rate | 79% (31/39) | 79% (34/43) |
| All Run Metres | 1,726 | 1,650 |
| Post Contact Metres | 576 | 587 |
| Line Breaks | 6 | 3 |
| Tackle Breaks | 33 | 35 |
| Average Set Distance | 44.26 | 38.38 |
| Offloads | 8 | 4 |
| Total Passes | 218 | 235 |
| Kick Metres | 719 | 608 |
| Forced Drop Outs | 1 | 3 |
| Tackles Made | 340 | 336 |
