The Sydney Roosters turned on the heat in Round 16 of the NSW Cup competition, lifting as a team to down the Newcastle Knights 36-12 at McDonald Jones Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
After suffering an agonising two-point loss to the defending premiers last week, the Tricolours rose in attack and defence, driven by an outstanding 80-minute effort from Siua Wong, who made 245 run metres from 22 carries at lock.
Match: Knights v Roosters
Round 16 -
home Team
Knights
13th Position
away Team
Roosters
12th Position
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
An early error from the Roosters gifted the hosts an opportunity to strike early from close range, with a textbook left-edge attacking play resulting in a try for Laitia Moceidreke. Lachlan Miller failed to convert the try from the sideline, leaving the hosts with a four-point advantage.
The Tricolours responded four minutes later through Coby Thomas, who stood up out of a tackle close to the line and carried Knights halfback Adam Klune on his back over the stripe to level the scores. Jaxson Paulo added the extras from close range, giving the Roosters a two-point lead.
A phenomenal chip-and-chase play from Jade Anderson set up Joseph Taipari shortly after, with the Roosters’ winger gathering the ball before offloading to his halfback close to the line.
Five minutes later, Paulo made the Knights pay for a sloppy pass in their run towards the line, picking up the scraps to race 80 metres downfield to score untouched. The outside back converted his own try, cementing a handy 12-point margin.
A cross-field kick from Clune set up Newcastle for a point-scoring play on the the right edge, with winger Keanu Wainohu-Kemp gathering the ball before crashing over the stripe.
Clune set up Chris Vea'ila for the Knights' third try of the half five minutes later with a slick cut-out ball, but Miller failed to convert once more, leaving the score at 16-12.
The Tricolours came out of the sheds firing, trading blows with the hosts for 20 minutes before finding first points through Alan Holten, who took advantage of the Knights napping goal-line defence to dive over from dummy half.
A barnstorming run from Roosters' captain Ethan King resulted in more points for the visitors, after the fullback tore straight through the Knights defence in the 66th minute, offloading to Tyrell Neiufi who finished the effort beside the posts. Paulo converted the try to give the Roosters a 26-12 lead.
Neiufi collected a marvellous banana kick from Holten in the 72nd minute, offloading to Ethan Clark-Wood who grounded the ball in-goal, effectively opening the flood gates the Tricolours.
Three minutes later, Holten crossed for the Roosters' fourth unanswered try of the second half, diving over from dummy half to bag his second four-pointer of the afternoon. Paulo kicked the conversion from close range, sealing the win.
Sydney Roosters 36 (Coby Thomas, Joseph Taipari, Jaxson Paulo, Alan Holten 2, Tyrell Neiufi, Ethan Clark-Wood tries, Jaxson Paulo 4 goals) def Newcastle Knights 12 (Laitia Moceidreke, Keanu Wainohu-Kemp, Chris Vea’ila tries)
