The Sydney Roosters travelled to the Shire to take on the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at PointsBet Stadium in the first week of the 2023 NRL Finals.
Roosters on the Board
Following a scoreless first half from the visitors, it only took two minutes for them to strike in the second.
On the attack early, Sam Walker threw a looping pass to Joseph Manu, who had shifted out to the wing to fill in for Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.
With no one in front of him, Manu raced into the corner to score. Walker converted from out wide to level the contest.
Siua Steps Up
Starting in the second row for his first ever NRL Finals match, 20-year-old Siua Wong let nobody down with an outstanding performance.
Showing up in the right place in the right time, Wong collected a deflected kick and crashed over the line to tie the game with just over 10 minutes remaining.
In similar fashion, he picked up a loose ball off a Luke Keary charge down on Nicholas Hynes’ field goal attempt, securing valuable possession in the dying stages.
He finished the match with a whopping 122 run metres, nine tackle busts, three offloads and 31 tackles.
Walker Seals Win
With the game locked up at 12-all and only seven minutes remaining, the match called for a hero to give their side the edge.
Putting his hand up was Sam Walker, who snapped a field-goal from 20 metres out to put the Tricolours up by one.
Walker’s one-pointer proved to be the deciding factor, as the Roosters closed out a hard-fought 13-12 victory.
Charging For Glory
Protecting their slender one-point lead, the men from Bondi came up with two clutch charge downs in the final few minutes to secure victory.
As Hynes lined up a 17-metre field goal attempt from in front, James Tedesco led the charge for his side and managed to block the shot.
Less than a minute later, Hynes lined up another field goal only to have it blocked by a determined Luke Keary, turning the home side away once again.
Easts Advance to Semi Finals
For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Sydney Roosters have advanced through the first week of the NRL finals series.
In a challenging fixture where points were hard to come by and their Captain spending 10 minutes in the sin bin, the Roosters still managed to achieve victory despite not being in the lead until the 72nd minute.
They’ll look to bring the same resilience into the semi-finals as they travel to Melbourne to take on the Storm for a spot in the Preliminary Finals.
