Junior's Report: Roosters Triumph in All Games

The Red, White and Blue got off to a flying start, scoring two tries through Ethan Roberts and Delasalle Va’a in the opening 10 minutes to cement an early lead. Cassius Tia kicked both conversions to make the difference 12.

Winger Noah Goodman claimed his first try of the day in the 14th minute, capitalising off a right-edge play.

The Roosters combined as a team to score off the restart, with the Storm attempting to go short, Roberts gathered the ball, running 40 metres while evading the defence before offloading to halfback Haydan Ritchie who raced away to score his first try of the day.

Benaiah Ioelu burrowed his way over from dummy-half just 10 minutes later, with Tia nailing the goal to make the score 28-0.

Melbourne responded with a play off the scrum in the 29th minute which saw them send the ball to the left edge with Siulagi Pio putting winger Nisifolo Faunuku over the stripe.

On the stroke of half-time, Salesi Foketi charged at the line, eventually finding a space to ground the ball and claim four more points for the visitors.

Foketi would back up his first-half effort early in the second-half, after receive a short ball from Ioelu before breaking the line and racing downfield to score his second try of the day.

Playing in the centres, Kade Maguire scored one of the most impressive tries of the day in the 44th minute, reading the Storm play perfectly to intercept a pass and stream almost 50 metres down the sideline to score.

Ioelu provided the spark again in the 49th minute, this time for Ritche. The hooker put one on the toe, noticing limited back line defence, and chased down the ball but fell victim to an awkward bounce. Ritchie was in hot pursuit though and gathered the loose ball to claim his second.

Foketi and Goodman combined to claim another four points for the Tricolours five minutes later with the winger chipping inside for the second-rower who gather possession before offloading it back. Goodman found the corner and crossed untouched to make it 56-4.

The second-rower would secure his hat-trick in the 62nd minute after splitting the line and dodging around the defence who attempted to bring him down.

Tia set up the final try of the game with his fancy footwork generating a hole in Storm line as the defence scrambled to tackle him. With the scattered Melbourne outfit struggling to track his next move, the five-eighth sent a beautiful pass to Maguire to lock-in the away victory with a try in the corner on the siren.

The SG Ball team will now travel to Newcastle, to take on the Knights on Saturday at Kurri Kurri Sports Ground.

Harold Matthews

Sydney Roosters travelled to Morry Breen Oval to face the Central Coast Roosters in a pathways showdown. The Sydney-based team came away with a 20-point victory over their Central Coast counterparts, which seems them progress into eighth place on the Harold Matthews competition ladder.

A double to Na’oia’ehansi Tofaeono and a perfect day on the boot for Toby Rodwell helped the Sydney team get over the line.

Tofaeono opened the scoring for the Sydney Roosters after the winger was gifted a left-edge cut out ball, with Rodwell kicking the conversion to give the team an early lead.

Joshua Kopua crashed over the line for the Central Coast in the 19th minute, while Chaice Bayley nailed the conversion to level the scores.

Central Coast claimed the lead through Coby Thomas 10 minutes later as the Lock was put through a hole in the line by hooker Billy Brown, cementing their lead as the break approached.

The home side crossed again three minutes into the second half,  through Brown who confused the defence before diving over. Bayley converted the try, giving Central Coast a 10-point advantage.

Needing a response, the Sydney Roosters claimed four tries in 10 minutes to re-gain the lead, with Zach Fittler crossing first after captain Toby Rodwell worked around the ruck to open a hole for the Lock to score.

Rodwell had his hand in all of Sydney’s second-half tries, kicking for his halves partner Lachlan Dooner who snagged the ball mid-air and found the try-line three minutes later after Fittler’s four-pointer.

An impressive pass from Rodwell sent Baxter Warner through the line in the 50th minute, before the fullback offloaded the Kahu Capper who grounded the ball to ensure the 50-metre effort made an impact on the scoreboard.

Rodwell sent a floater across the field to Tofaeono after noticing a left-edge overlap, giving the winger his second try of the day in the 53rd minute.

The Sydney Roosters secured their away victory in the 59th minute through Elijah Chapman who scored off a classic right-side play, with Rodwell adding the extras to make the difference 20-points.

Andrew Johns Cup

The Central Coasts Roosters crushed the Macarthur Wests Tigers 28-16 at Morry Breen Oval on Saturday, booking a ticket to the Andrew Johns Grand Final in the process.

Macarthur scored first points through Peter French who charged onto a short ball, eventually finding the line despite the Roosters putting up a strong fight to hold him up.

Creative play from Jai Callaghan got Central Coast on the board in the 20th minute, with the fullback bouncing off his left and right feet to confuse the defence, breaking through the line before chipping the ball over the last line of defence, regaining possession and crashing down for the four-pointer. Tayte Bayley converted the try to lock up the scores.

Darcy Smith claimed the lead for the Roosters five minutes later as the second-rower used momentum to carry himself over the try-line.

Isaac Fotu-Moala ensured the Roosters carried their try-scoring momentum into the second half, snagging an intercept in the line before racing to the corner and scoring in the 32nd minute.

Continuing their raid, Central Coast found the try-line three more times in the second half, through Bayley, Kaidyn Peckham and Callaghan once more.

Two late four-pointers to Wests Tigers centre Glassie Glassie were not enough to change the result, with Central Coast confirming their spot in the Andrew Johns Cup Grand Final next weeks.