2021 NRL Round 19, Roosters 28 Knights 8 – Report

Jack Harbidge reviews the Round 19 clash between the Sydney Roosters and the Newcastle Knights on the Sunshine Coast. Here’s how the game went.

SCOREBOARD

Player of the Year Points

3 pts – James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters)
2 pts – Sitili Touponiua (Sydney Roosters)
1 pt – Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters)

MATCH REPORT

1st Half

The Newcastle Knights took advantage of a fast start with an early try just 13 minutes in from Jacob Saifiti, and soon after backed it up with a long range raid that ended up in a Bunker intervention to disallow a potential try for a Ponga knock on that resulted from a James Tedesco knock on prior.

The Knights got the ball back and continued to press the Roosters, eventually drawing a penalty for Jake Clifford to convert in the 15th minute. The two sides continued to cancel each other out following the Knights’ lead extension, but the Tricolours slowly ground their way into the ascendancy and capitalised at the back end of the half.

Sitili Tupouniua crossed off the back of a Hail Mary ball from Victor Radley to cut the Knights’ lead, and soon after Joseph Manu put the Roosters in front at the 35 minute mark to give them a two-point lead going into half-time after a Tedesco conversion.

HALF-TIME: Sydney Roosters 10 Newcastle Knights 8

2nd Half

The first quarter of the second period proved an extremely competitive tussle between the two sides, with Newcastle trying to regain the lead against a stout Roosters defence. Eventually, however, their defence did crack and the Tricolours crossed through Daniel Tupou down the left edge after 56 minutes.

The try appeared to deflate the Knights, who had looked to be the next scorer early on in the half and Lachlan Lam compounded the misery for Adam O’Brien’s side just eight minutes later.

The Knights’ defence waned after the hasty double and Tupouniua crossed for his second in the closing stages, before Angus Chrichton topped the win off for his side with a score of his own just four minutes from time.

FULL-TIME: Sydney Roosters 28 Newcastle Knights 8

Injuries

Billy Smith (Roosters) – ankle
Matt Ikuvalu (Roosters) – ankle

Match Review Committee

to be advised

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