Senior's Report: Roosters Secure Impressive Wins

The Roosters struck first through a short ball from Tyler Moriarty that connected with Naufahu Whyte, who flew directly from Melbourne to Canberra to play.  The front-rower crawled towards the line and reached out to plant the ball down in the fourth minute, while Skipper Sandon Smith converted the try, giving the visitors a six-point lead.

For the rest of the opening half, the Raiders and Roosters traded blows. Numerous infringements by Sydney handed possession back to Canberra but the Tricolours defence held strong.

Siua Wong got the Roosters off to a hot start in the second half, crossing in the first minute after Thomas Deakin combined with Smith to serve the second rower a cut-out ball. Wong had his work cut out for him, as three Raiders defenders stood between the 20-year-old and the try-line, yet he persevered, muscling his way to the line to ground the ball. Smith added the extras to give Easts a 12-point advantage.

The Roosters playmakers combined for the third try of the afternoon in the 45th minute, with Smith dictating a left edge play before offloading to his halves partner, Joseph Whitikama Temara Taipari. The five-eighth danced in the line, engaging the defence before offloading to Josh Bevan who completed the play with a left foot step before crashing over.

Ethan Clark-Wood cemented the victory 13 minutes later after Deakin and Smith connected once more, this time with a slick play that ensured the defence would make a tackle on Riley Meyn, leaving a hole in the line for the centre to stream through and score.

Smith did not miss a single conversion, ensuring the Raiders couldn’t come back from the 26-point deficit with 22 minutes left of the match.

Jersey Flegg

The Sydney Roosters remain undefeated in the Jersey Flegg Cup competition after cruising to a 34-16 victory over the Newcastle Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium on Easter Sunday.

A double to winger Jordan Swann and opportunistic attacking plays ensured the Roosters would dominate time in possession to continue their unbeaten streak heading into Round 7.

The Knights opened the scoring through Luke Pietzner in the second minute, who gathered a high bomb, evading the defence on his way to the try line. Jahoiyakim Afoa kicked the conversion, giving the home side an early advantage.

An extremely short ball by Hugo Savala found the hands of Phoenix Steinwede who crossed uncontested behind the posts. Savala levelled the scores in the 8th minute with a successful conversion.

Newcastle reclaimed the lead through Tyreece Woods four minutes later after the centre dived on a loose ball following an error by Owen Flaherty.

A right edge play by Newcastle was interrupted by Vaiala Tamati who snatched a loose ball before running 35 metres and connecting with Isaac Guba who was taken down close to the line by Knights fullback Logan Jones.

On the resuming play, the Roosters spread the ball from sideline to sideline, where Kyron Fekitoa came within centimetres of the stripe, but it was Jordan Swann who claimed the four-pointer, diving over from dummy half in the 25th minute.

Easts halves Tyler Colley and Savala united to set up the Tricolours third try, sending a pass to Tamati who engaged the defence before offloading to Guba to finish the effort by grounding the ball in-goal. Savala converted the try to give his team a six-point lead.

Harry Reid brought the Knights back within striking distance in the first minute of the second half after producing a show and go that caught the Roosters off-guard. Afoa levelled the scores in the 37th minute.

Not wanting to concede defeat, the Roosters stood up in attack, reining in three second half tries through Angus Fahey, Swann and Flaherty to secure an 18-point victory on Easter Sunday in Newcastle.