Christopher Rooney reviews the Saturday night Magic Round clash between the Sydney Roosters and North Queensland Cowboys. Here’s how the game went.
SCOREBOARD
Roosters 30
Tries: Daniel Tupou (5, 72), Sam Walker (9), Matt Ikuvalu (24), Angus Crichton (26, 50).
Goals: Sam Walker (11, 74), Adam Keighran (65 – pen).
Player of the Year Points
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters)
2 pts – Angus Crichton (Sydney Roosters)
1 pt – Scott Drinkwater (North Queensland Cowboys)
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty Images1st Half
The Roosters were under huge pressure to start off the match after a “magical” kick off by Kyle Felt that saw the Roosters defending their try line for the first five minutes.
However, the Cowboys could not capitalize on this and it didn’t take long for the Roosters to make their way up field after some great passes by Radley and Tedesco to set up Daniel Tupou in the corner.
Once they scored, they continue to score another fantastic try. The combination between Sam Walker and Victor Radley was absolutely perfect, as Walker scored right under the posts after getting the ball right back from Radley.
Walker and Lachlan Lam had complete control of the first half, putting in some quality kicks, and an important repeat set by Walker led to another Roosters try.
The Roosters had all the momentum with more pressure on the Cowboys, as they could not handle the Roosters. The passing by the Roosters was first class, as it lead to Matt Ikuvalu scoring in the other corner. A kick out on the full by the Cowboys was the start of another Roosters try as Angus Crichton scored easily after a great run over Connelly Lemuelu.
In the theme of Magic Round, after Sitili Tupouniua was sent to the sin bin the Cowboys were able to score their first try of the night, with Javid Bowen scoring his first try since returning to the NRL. A lazy penalty from the Roosters saw the Cowboys score their second try with Reece Robson looking dangerous from dummy half every time and passing to Scott Drinkwater to score directly under the posts.
HALF-TIME: Sydney Roosters 18 North Queensland Cowboys 10
Embed from Getty Images2nd Half
It was the perfect start for the Cowboys to start the second half: Valentine Holmes made a line break and had Drinkwater supporting him after a great run from Holmes. He passed to Drinkwater for his second try of the night and was going nowhere.
The Cowboys forwards were laying the platform in the middle very effectively and their bench was gaining big metres as well. But again, the Roosters were able to defend their line and make easy metres up the field.
It did look like that Joseph Manu went over the line for an important try for the Roosters but he dropped the ball over the line, which was deflating for them. James Tedesco made a great line break and passed the ball to Crichton for his second try of the night in one of the funniest ways by falling to the ground and hoping for the best by throwing it behind.
But the drama didn’t stop there: at the kick off Siosiua Taukeiaho dropped the ball to give the Cowboys an easy opening, which they did not take advantage of.
There wasn’t much between the two during the second half and once again we saw another sin bin. Lachlan Burr was sent after a soft shot to the head and gave the Roosters the chance to kick a penalty goal to lead by eight.
The Cowboys were showing signs of tired defence and couldn’t handle the Roosters’ left edge when Tupou scored his second try of the night and the final try of the night.
FULL-TIME: Sydney Roosters 30 North Queensland Cowboys 16
Injuries
to be advised
Match Review Committee
Sitili Tupouniua (Roosters) – Grade 1 High Tackle Careless – Early Guilty Plea $1350 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $1800 fine
Angus Crichton (Roosters) – Grade 1 Dangerous Contact Other – Early Guilty Plea $1900 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $2550 fine
Lachlan Burr (Roosters) – Grade 1 High Tackle Careless – Early Guilty Plea $1700 fine, Guilty at Judiciary $2250 fine
Follow Nothing But League on Twitter and Facebook.
