It is Fulltime! The Roosters have survived an almighty scare from the Cowboys to hold on to win 26-20. Great finish from North Queensland, very unlucky in the end. Stay tuned for the 3,2,1's and Match Report @LeagueUnlimited!
Jake Clifford throws a forward pass to Thurston. Roosters scrum 35m from their own line.
Johnathan Thurston puts Coen Hess through an enormous hole and he is tackled by James Tedesco 35m out.
Johnathan Thurston grubbers on the last but it comes off Isaac Liu's legs and Liu dives on it. Roosters ball 7m out from their own line.
Penalty Cowboys - Against Jake Friend for holding down a dangerous Johnathan Thurston who almost sliced through. Cowboys again on the attack.
Ryan Matterson crunches Jake Clifford but has been ruled to have knocked on. Scrum Cowboys 20m out.
Isaac Liu tries to strip Te Maire Martin one on one but knocks on. Cowboys ball on halfway.
Roosters kick on the last and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves knocks the ball forward trying to reel in a kick. Cowboys have the ball 10m from their own line.
Johnathan Thurston attempts to strip Blake Ferguson one on one but it is ruled a knock on. Tough call. Roosters scrum 28m from their own line.
Jake Clifford runs it on the last and is tackled a metre out. Great play by the visitors.
Coen Hess offloads to Martin and the Cowboys are on the attack 20m out.
Johnathan Thurston adds the extras and we have a game!
Jason Taumalolo charges for the line and throws an offload out the back to find Gavin Cooper who scores! Cowboys are back in it!
Jake Clifford grubbers again beautifully on the last and Manu is trapped in goal.Dropout Roosters.
Latrell Mitchell tries to push his way over the top of Enari Tuala but the young Cowboys centre holds him up and the cavalry arrive and drive Mitchell over the sideline. Cowboys ball on halfway.
Johnathan Thurston grubbers for the goal line on the last and James Tedesco just gets back in the field of play. Roosters balls deep inside their own half.
Johnathan Thurston converts his own try.
Johnathan Thurston dummies to Jason Taumalolo on the inside and scores under the posts. Classic Thurston.
Penalty Cowboys - Roosters markers not square. Cowboys on the attack 30m out.
Penalty Roosters - Great run by Blake Ferguson and again he gets the penalty for his side. Roosters find the line on halfway.
Latrell Mitchell nails the conversion from the sideline!
Cooper Cronk takes on the line down the blind side and hits a perfect face ball for Daniel Tupou to reach out to score!
Latrell Mitchell misses the conversion.
James Tedesco gets some early ball from a scrum, finds Joseph Manu who puts Blake Ferguson in space and he has too much speed and power to score in the corner!
Jake Clifford kicks high on the last but Latrell Mitchell leaps high and takes it on the full in-goal. 20m re-start Roosters.
Great kick on the last from Jake Clifford and Tupou runs the ball dead. Dropout Roosters.
Cooper Cronk runs it on the last and looks for Radley but it is knocked back by Hampton and then lost by Radley. Cowboys ball 5m out from their own line.
Penalty Roosters - Against John Asiata for pushing Blake Ferguson after he played the ball. Roosters on the attack 25m out.
Back in action at Allianz Stadium! Matthew Scott brings the ball back for the visitors.
Cooper Cronk bombs on the last and it is batted dead by Te Maire Martin and it is Halftime!
VIDEO REFEREE - NO TRY - James Tedesco grubbers for the line and Joseph Manu knocks on trying to score. Cowboys 20m re-start.
Johnathan Thurston knocks down a dangerous James Tedesco pass down the short side. Roosters scrum 22m out.
Latrell Mitchell makes it 4 from 4 so far this evening.
Another Penalty Roosters - Again holding the tackled man down. Roosters point to the posts again!
Penalty Roosters - Against Johnathan Thurston for not being square at marker. Roosters on the attack 25m out.
Latrell Mitchell adds the extra two points to the scoreboard and Roosters extend their lead to 6 points.
Penalty Roosters - Ryan Matterson almost scores and Cowboys hold on too long. Roosters will take the shot.
Victor Radley runs hard at the line and offloads but Thurston puts it down. Roosters scrum 10m out.
Penalty Roosters - Cowboys not getting back 10m. Roosters find the line 40m out.
Penalty Cowboys - Against Jake Friend for taking too long in the tackle. Cowboys on the attack 33m out.
Joseph Manu leaps high for a kick on the last, but knocks on into Te Maire Martin. Cowboys ball 20m out from their own line.
Latrell Mitchell adds the extras. Great response from the Tricolours.
Joseph Manu gets on the outside of Justin O'Neill and then flicks passes to Blake Ferguson. Ferguson then kicks inside and Manu leaps high and just holds on to score! Unreal try! Roosters in front.
Johnathan Thurston adds the extras from in front. 900 career goals for JT.
Jason Taumalolo gets the ball with nothing on,winds up, runs dead straight over Isaac Liu and then James Tedesco to score a barnstorming try!
Penalty Cowboys - Against James Tedesco for making contact with opposite Te Maire Martin who was leaping to take a Cooper Cronk bomb. Martin was in the air when contact was made. Cowboys over halfway.
Johnathan Thurston gets the Cowboys on the scoreboard.
Penalty Cowboys - Against Isaac Liu for taking too long to release the tackled player. Thurston will take the shot.
Boyd Cordner loses a quick Victor Radley pass and Kyle Feldt cleans up. Cowboys on the attack 30m out!
Latrell Mitchell nails the conversion and the Roosters are off to a good start.
Latrell Mitchell scores down the left hand side following some excellent quick hands from firstly James Tedesco and then Boyd Cordner. Roosters get the first try, kick to come.
Penalty Roosters - Escort from the Cowboys on the kick on the last. Roosters take the tap 20m out.
Jake Clifford puts up a towering bomb on the last and James Tedesco is equal to the task. Roosters ball 15m out from their own line.
Johnathan Thurston misses with the penalty goal.
Penalty Cowboys - Coen Hess almost charges over off a great ball from Johnathan Thurston and Roosters are penalised for holding on in the tackle.
Roosters make a charge through the middle with multiple offloads but Cooper Cronk passes to Gavin Cooper and Cowboys hold on.
Cooper Cronk kicks for Blake Ferguson on the last with a bomb but Kane Linnett takes it well and Cowboys have the ball 12m from their own line.
Penalty Roosters - Cowboys inside the 10m. Roosters find the line 30m out.
We are underway at Allianz Stadium and Blake Ferguson brings the ball back into a wall of Cowboys defenders.
Welcome to Allianz Stadium, where the in-form Sydney Roosters host the North Queensland Cowboys in our final game of Super Saturday. Prior to a ball being kicked in 2018 this would have been the 2 Premiership favourites, however both sides have endured contradictory seasons. The Roosters are looking to lock away a Top 4 finish, while the Cowboys are trying to avoid the Wooden Spoon. The Tricolours have one change with Kurt Baptiste dropping out of the 17 and rookie Sean O’Sullivan replacing him on the interchange bench in jersey #20. The Cowboys are 1-17. This will be the last time legendary halfbacks Cooper Cronk and Jonathan Thurston face off, which should ensure plenty of bragging rights on offer. Are the Chooks going to be too red hot? Will the Cowboys lift in order to avoid the dreaded Wooden Spoon? This should be a cracker, so stay tuned for all the action @LeagueUnlimited.
Referees & scorers:
Referee: Adam Gee, Alan Shortall
Touch Judges: Jeff Younis, Liam Nicholls
Video Referee: Jared Maxwell, Ben Galea
SYDNEY ROOSTERS (26)
Tries: Latrell Mitchell, Joseph Manu, Blake Ferguson, Daniel Tupou
Field Goals:
Conversions: Latrell Mitchell (3/4)
Penalty Goals: Latrell Mitchell (2/2)
NORTH QUEENSLAND COWBOYS (20)
Tries: Johnathan Thurston, Jason Taumalolo, Gavin Cooper
Field Goals:
Conversions: Johnathan Thurston (3/3)
Penalty Goals: Johnathan Thurston (1/2)