The Roosters have turned a 12-6 half-time lead into a big 42-6 win thanks to a brilliant second half where they blew the Warriors off the ground at the SCG today.
It was the Warriors who opened the scoring in just the second minute of the game when a Blake Green grubber back against the run of play was pounced on by Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, who scored next to the uprights. Chanel Harris-Tavita converted.
Fifteen minutes later, the Rooster hit back when they spread the ball left to Latrell Mitchell, who got 1-on-1 with his defender, stepped inside him and reached out to slam the ball down for a try out wide. He failed to convert from the wide angle.
10 minutes later, the Roosters took the lead when James Tedesco took a crash ball into the defence, his quick play-the-ball allows Joseph Manu to dart over from dummy half close to the line to score a good try. Mitchell converted.
On the stroke of halftime, Mitchell added a penalty goal to give the Roosters a 6 point lead.
Five minutes after play resumed, Luke Keary got outside the Warriors defence on the left edge, then linked with Mitchell, who drew the fullback before passing back to Keary and the half ran in to score to the left of the posts. Mitchell converted.
The Roosters attack then lifted another gear. In the 56th minute the Roosters received a penalty. From the tap, Tedesco received a good ball from Jared Waerea-Hargreaves before he reached the defensive line and Tedesco flew through a huge gap and scored an easy try. Mitchell converted from out wide on the left.
At the end of their next set after the restart, Keary put up a kick. Cooper Cronk contested the catch with Tuivasa-Sheck, with the ball bouncing off the top of Cronk's head. Radley caught the ball, sent it right to Mitchell Aubusson, who drew the only defender before passing to Brett Morris and the winger scored easily in the right corner. Mitchell was unable to convert from the right touchline.
3 minutes later, Jazz Tevaga was sin binned for a late hit on Cooper Cronk. In the following set Aubusson kept pushing in a one-on-one tackle and eventually forced his way to the try line before getting the ball down for a try. Mitchell failed to convert.
Another 5 minutes passed before the Roosters were in again, with yet another short side play down the left edge. Keary sent Angus Crichton down the wing, who then turned the ball inside to Mitchell who ran away to score near the posts. He converted his own try.
Right on the stroke of fulltime, the Roosters bagged one more try, again thanks to a left-side play. Crichton made a break before offloading to Daniel Tupou in space and the winger strolled in for an easy try in the corner. Mitchell failed to convert from the sideline.