2021 NRL Round 2, Tigers 6 Roosters 40 – Report

Brendan Wood reviews the Sydney Roosters dominant 40-6 win over the Wests Tigers at Campbelltown Sports Stadium. Here’s how the game went:

SCOREBOARD

Player of the Year Points

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3 pts – Brett Morris (Sydney Roosters)
2 pts – Luke Keary (Sydney Roosters)
1 pt – James Tedesco (Sydney Roosters)

MATCH REPORT

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1st Half

With the rain easing just in time for kick off, the Tigers started strongly and had the better of the field position in the early exchanges. Despite the promising start, the Roosters couldn’t be contained for long. Just as he did last week, James Tedesco opened the scoring when Brett Morris made a break down the right edge and kicked back in field. Tedesco marked the ball on the full to score his fourth try of the season.

Just six minutes later, Morris grabbed a try himself when he made another break and stepped around Tigers fullback Daine Laurie to extend the lead to 12 points. After being broken twice in quick succession, the Tigers eventually plugged the hole in their right edge and turned the Roosters away.

Wrestling the momentum back, the Tigers found some field position and hit back on the scoreboard. Jacob Liddle scampered out of dummy half and slide over to get first points for the home side. As a result, the game tightened up with both sides trying to gain the ascendency.

It took nearly 20 minutes but the Roosters eventually cracked the Tigers right edge again. Luke Keary put Sitili Tupouniua into gap and he dragged Luke Brooks to the line to score. The Roosters went into the halftime break with a comfortable 12 point lead.

HALF-TIME: Sydney Roosters 18 Wests Tigers 6

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2nd Half

The rain returned to begin the second half but it didn’t slow down the Roosters. Exploiting the flimsy Tigers right edge again, Luke Keary sliced through and produced a flick pass to Brett Morris who grabbed his second try of the day. Just three minutes later, Keary set up yet another try. His grubber kick took a deflection off a Tiger and James Tedesco cleaned up the scraps to score his second try.

Despite the Roosters looking strong in attack, they took nearly 20 minutes to break the Tigers again as the home side desperately tried to avoid conceding more points. After the weight of possession mounted, Lindsay Collins made a break up the middle and drew the fullback across. Debutant Fletcher Baker was there in support to score his first NRL try.

Not long after putting Baker over for a try, Lindsay Collins was in the thick of things again. Luke Keary bombed across field and the ball was batted back to Collins. He found some space on the outside and passed to Brett Morris who completed his hat-trick of tries.

The fulltime siren couldn’t come soon enough for the Tigers, as the Roosters completed a comprehensive 34-point win.

FULL-TIME: Sydney Roosters 40 Wests Tigers 6

Injuries

N/A

Match Review Committee

To be advised

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