Gadigal Roosters Run Hot in Icy Conditions to Sink Sharks

Captain James Tedesco and halfback Luke Keary had strong showings a day out from State of Origin selection, while winger Daniel Tupou bagged a trademark double as the Red, White and Blue ran out to a 20-nil lead. 

Connor Watson - a proud Gamilaroi man - provided plenty of impact from the bench in a stint that saw him score the final try of the match after a busy period going between lock and hooking duties. 

The Roosters, donning their 2022 Indigenous Round jersey, were greeted by hostile and icy conditions at Shark Park, but that failed to deter them as they put on a first-half performance that silenced the local crowd. 

The fast-starting Roosters combined nicely in the opening stages as they headed downfield, with Luke Keary forcing a drop out before Drew Hutchison cleverly looped a ball on fifth tackle for Tupou to open the scoring.

Despite Sam Walker's conversion attempt hitting the upright, the Roosters took a handy 4-nil lead after five minutes. 

Easts shut down a counterattack from the home side to regain possession on halfway, however, their eagerness with the ball in hand forced multiple errors, giving their opponents a chance to hit back.

A cover tackle from James Tedesco halted winger Sione Katoa centimetres from the line before the fullback grounded a threatening grubber in goal, and nearly went over minutes later, failing to ground the ball in another near miss. 

Joseph Suaalii soared high to take an innocuous kick before shutting down a runaway Siosifa Talakai and forcing an error with a crunching hit on Will Kennedy to give his side possession on the line.

The teenager's efforts proved to be fruitful as his teammates formulated a scrum move to send Tupou over for his second as Keary and Tedesco combined beautifully.

Walker's conversion extended the lead to 10-nil after a quarter of the match played. 

The no.1 and no.7 combined again as Keary streamed downfield, and soon enough Tedesco was creating points on the other side of the field, putting Nat Butcher through for a memorable four-pointer. 

Another conversion attempt hit the posts but this time it was successful as the Roosters went up 16-nil with ten minutes remaining in the first half.

That lead extended almost immediately as the red-hot Roosters exploded on the left, with quick hands sending Tupou away before he linked up with his fullback to dot down, giving his side a 20-point lead.

Sitili Tupouniua and Tupou exerted their physicality with big hits before a desperate try-saving effort from Angus Crichton halted Briton Nikora just metres from the line with the Roosters heading to the sheds with a clean sheet. 

Both combatants locked themselves into an arm wrestle to start the second stanza, but an error from Easts in their own half resulted in the home side attacking the line, before Keary dived on a loose pass to save the day.

Hutchison stopped Kennedy in his tracks with a one-on-one tackle as the Bondi Wall held out multiple raids on the line in a stellar five-minute period that would make Coach Trent Robinson proud. 

Soon enough Tedesco was turning the defence inside out on the other end of the field, and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves finished off a scintillating piece of play that saw multiple offloads put the Kiwi enforcer over.

While the uprights continued to trouble the goalkickers, the Tricolours' lead grew to 24 points with less than half an hour remaining in the contest.

The home side finally breached the line with a Ronaldo Mulitalo crossing soon after,  with Nicho Hynes' conversion closing the gap to eighteen points, and their deficit shortened soon after with Sione Katoa scoring on the right-hand side.

More pressure mounted on the Roosters as a failed Captain's Challenge followed by a penalty saw the home side in again with Cameron McInnes going over, as  Hynes bridged the gap to eight points heading into a tense final ten minute period.

A bobble from the resulting kick gave the Sharks possession on the line, but the Bondi Wall rose to the occasion as Tedesco and Tupouniua took down Mulitalo just inches out, before Paul Momirovski and Tupou combined to take Katoa into touch.

The result was iced minutes later as Joseph Manu picked up a loose ball to dash 60 metres to score, before Connor Watson added another try in the shadows of fulltime, bringing the final score to 36-16 in favour of the Gadigal Roosters. 

 

All player issued jerseys from the night will be auctioned off, with all money raised to be donated to the Kari Foundation for Indigenous programs.

You can bid for a jersey in the card below: 

The Sydney Roosters will travel to the ACT next Sunday afternoon as they take on the Canberra Raiders at 4:00pm in their Round 13 clash. 

 

Gadigal Roosters 36 (Daniel Tupou 2, Nat Butcher, James Tedesco, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Joseph Manu, Connor Watson tries; Sam Walker 4 goals) def Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16 (Ronaldo Mulitalo, Sione Katoa, Cameron McInnes tries; Nicho Hynes 2 goals)