Craig Cauchi reviews the Dragons match against the Roosters in the town of Toowoomba. Here’s how the game went.
SCOREBOARD
Dragons 22
Tries: Josh McGuire (39), Mikaele Ravalawa (48), Mathew Feagai (51), Jayden Sullivan (75)
Goals: Zac Lomax (40, 53, 75)
Roosters 40
Tries: Egan Butcher (11), Dale Copley (15), Sitili Tupouniua (33), Daniel Tupou (55, 60, 80), Sam Walker (65), Drew Hutchinson (69)
Goals: Siosiua Taukeiaho (12, 62, 67, 70)
Player of the Year Points
Embed from Getty Images3 pts – James Tedesco (Roosters)
2 pts – Isaac Liu (Roosters)
1 pt – Daniel Tupou (Roosters)
MATCH REPORT
Embed from Getty Images1st Half
Both sides butchered a couple of early opportunities but it changed for the Roosters when Egan Butcher was brought onto the field to replace an injured Adam Keighran. The replacement forward scored the first try off the back of Tedesco and it was the fullback who set up the next try moments later for Dale Copley. The fullback continued his fine form for the remainder of the half. His positional play in defence helped defuse the few moments the Dragons looked likely and in attack he was hard to handle. He finished off the half with his third try assist, supplying the final pass to send Sitili Tupouniua over. The Dragons even had Tedesco to thank for their first try, with the fullback stripping the ball away as Matt Dufty came close to crossing. Josh McGuire pounced on the loose ball to reinstall their hope heading into halftime.
HALF-TIME: St George Illawarra Dragons 6 Sydney Roosters 14
Embed from Getty Images2nd Half
The Roosters started the second half a busted team with Nat Butcher coming from the field inside the first ten minutes. It coincided with the Dragons growing in confidence and taking advantage of their momentum with a try to Mikaele Ravalawa off nice lead up work from Zac Lomax. They made a mistake off the kick off but defended well enough to earn a 7-tackle set. Bird sprinted to the 20 and as he tapped it passed it off to Zac Lomax, who burst through the line and linked up with Mat Feagai to finish off the try. The Dragons lead didn’t last long with a double to Daniel Tupou, the second coming as the winger chased down a kick and leapt easily over the opposition. The Roosters finally took complete control of the match and with the Dragons defence folding in the middle third, the Roosters ran in another two tries to end any chance the Dragons had of coming back. The Dragons pegged one back with Jayden Sullivan crossing for the first try of his career but the match ended with Daniel Tupou crossing for a hattrick on the fulltime siren.
FULL-TIME: St George Illawarra Dragons 22 Sydney Roosters 40
Injuries
Adam Keighran (Roosters), Nat Butcher (Roosters), Mikaele Ravalawa (Dragons)
Match Review Committee
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