Roosters Light Up SCG With Striking Performance

A picturesque moonlit night overseeing the hallowed SCG soon turned into an ominous cloud cover, with both sides prepared for a tough encounter as they traded exchanges through the middle of the field. 

But the deadlock was quickly broken as Sam Walker stepped up - quite literally - as he turned the defence inside out to send makeshift hooker Drew Hutchison over for the first try of the match. 

Walker then handed the Roosters a six-point lead after just four minutes with a successful conversion. 

A penalty on halfway soon after gave the Sea Eagles a sniff, but James Tedesco and Luke Keary combined to shut down the raid, with the captain cutting down a runaway Lachlan Croker before his halfback clever cleaned up an attacking grubber.

Tedesco continued to trouble Manly, firstly by forcing a drop out through a well-weighted chip kick, before supplying Daniel Tupou with the next try from a left-side sweep. 

Despite Walker's unsuccessful conversion attempt, the Tricolours were crowing early with a 10-nil lead after as many minutes.

An unfortunate error invited Manly back into Roosters territory, but the scrambling efforts from Walker and Paul Momirovski shut down a threatening run from Tom Trbojevic.

But the Bondi Wall continued to hold strong, and although Trbojevic narrowly saved a 40/20 attempt from Keary, it was the Roosters on top after a strong opening quarter.

Connor Watson then made his presence known from the interchange bench with a darting run from dummy-half before another zig-zagging effort from Walker saw the diminutive half poke a dangerous kick through the line to force a drop out. 

With pressure mounting, the Red, White and Blue struck again as Watson then sent interchange forward Nat Butcher crashing over to score with a deft pass as the Roosters faithful went up in full cheer. 

Walker's conversion saw the scoreline grow to 16-nil with as many minutes remaining in the first half.

Both sides had near misses over the try-line, but a barnstorming run from Sitili Tupouniua put Easts in the box seat to strike again - and the second rower was rewarded a few sets later as Keary sent him through a yawning gap to score.

Now in the final ten minutes before the break, the Roosters lead blew to 22-nil following Walker's goal.

The thunder and lightning cracking over the Brewongle Stand reminisced the threat from the Tricolours, whose enthusiasm grew even with half-time looming, taking their comprehensive lead as they headed into the sheds.

With the heavens opening up during the break, the second half took a considerably different outlook from the fast and free-flowing football of the first.

Slippery conditions saw ball handling take a back seat, evidenced as both sides traded errors in their first set upon resumption, with the SCG resembling more of a quagmire than a football field.

Daniel Tupou got the interest of Sydney Swans stakeholders as he soared above to take a brilliant catch, and despite an error giving Manly the first opportunity to reply, the calm and composed Roosters held their nerve in their own half. 

The sides continued to battle it out in the tough conditions while adjusting to their new surroundings, but eventually it was the Sea Eagles who struck to open the second half scoring as Karl Lawton dived over under the posts. 

Despite Reuben Garrick's conversion, the Roosters maintained a healthy 22-6 lead after 55 minutes played. 

Things were looking ominous as a crunching tackle forced the ball loose from the Tricolours, but quick thinking and desperation saw Tupou deny Morgan Harper from diving to score before the elder statesman cleaned up a threatening grubber a few sets later. 

Overcoming the onslaught, the Roosters rallied and the Bondi Wall stood strong before a heavy hit from Momirovski handed his side the ball 30 metres from the line, and before long Butcher was in to score his second, sidestepping Trbojevic in the process. 

Despite the unsuccessful conversion, the lead returned to 20 points with just over ten minutes remaining, and while the Sea Eagles scored a consolation try, it was the Roosters crowing as they claimed a 26-12 victory to kick-start their 2022 campaign. 

 

Sydney Roosters 26 (Nat Butcher 2, Drew Hutchison, Daniel Tupou, Sitili Tupouniua tries; Sam Walker 3 goals) def Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 12 (Karl Lawton, Daly Cherry-Evans tries; Reuben Garrick 2 goals)