Roosters

Sydney Roosters have secured the first leg of the 17th annual Ron Coote Cup with a thrilling 20-18 win over archrivals South Sydney.

Despite uproar from Cody Walker, who believed Manu to have infringed on his defending ability, the Bunker confirmed the try. The Tricolours absorbed the pressure from defending their line, turning their stress into an opportunity at the other end of the field. In a right-edge play, Jaxson Paulo denied a try by Johnston, who held him up as he reached for the line. Brandon Smith bamboozled the Rabbitohs defence with fancy footwork off dummy-half, faking passes to both sides before crashing over for his first try of the season. Mitchell created an opportunity for Alex Johnston just four minutes later, witnessing an overlap open up on the left-edge, the former Rooster provided his winger with a cut-out ball that sent him over in the corner. South Sydney fullback Latrell Mitchell kicked the conversion to give the red and green a six-point lead.

The epic match-up kicked off with a dramatic start when Souths prop Hame Sele was taken from the field in the first minute of the game. But it didn't dampen the ...

Latrell Mitchell butchered an important penalty goal to bring his Rabbitohs within four of the Roosters. Shaq Mitchell 18. Latrell Mitchell 2. Nat Butcher 13. Joseph Manu 5. Egan Butcher 12. Joseph Suaalii 4. It was two of his play the balls that led to Roosters tries, with Smith taking advantage of only one marker to score a trademark four-pointer out of dummy-half. The problem for the South Sydney fullback was that it came after a successful challenge that turned a Rabbitohs penalty into a Roosters scrum after the bunker decided Mitchell had lost the ball on the ground. It looked like Souths were going to respond when Isaiah Tass was in space only for Joseph Manu to come up with what Greg Alexander called “the defensive play of the game.” Manu ran up behind Isaiah Tass and knocked the ball out of his hands to save a try. He struggled to fire a shot in his first two games for the club, but Roosters recruit Brandon Smith showed why the Chooks splashed the cash to lure him north this season. The Roosters carried the momentum into the second half as Jaxson Paulo beat two of his former Rabbitohs teammates to score in the corner.

The Sydney Roosters have defeated their bitter rivals South Sydney by 20-18 in front of a sell-out crowd at Allianz Stadium tonight.

The Roosters then made it back-to-back tries, as Luke Keary placed a superb chip kick for a flying Daniel Tupou to score. He was billed as the big game player pre-match, and Latrell Mitchell proved it once again when the Kangaroos star threw a superb cut out ball for Alex Johnston to race away to score down the left edge. Following a heated melee from both sides, Rabbitohs backrower Michael Chee Kam also joined him for being third man in and looked to deliver a sneaky jab to the Roosters centre's eye.

Welcome to Wide World of Sports' LIVE coverage of Friday night NRL action, with clashes between the Knights...

"We got off to a slow start there. "We went through the middle and he scored that try and it just rolled on from there." The Kiwi hooker spent the first 24 minutes on the bench before replacing Jake Turpin and scored his team's first try just 10 minutes later to change the momentum.

The Sydney Roosters have avenged last year's bitter finals exit to South Sydney by claiming a 20-18 win...

A Mitchell penalty on the stroke of halftime gave Souths a 12-10 lead at the break but they were left to rue a missed opportunity when Campbell Graham butchered a two-on-one that would have sent Izaac Thompson in at the corner. But despite the early setback, the Rabbitohs were able to hit the lead through Keaon Kololoamatangi and then increase their advantage when Mitchell sent Alex Johnston in at the corner with a cutout pass. "It wasn't going to be won in the 20 minutes, but we knew the impact was coming."

Jaxson Paulo played a leading role in the downfall of his former club on Friday night, scoring twice to help the Roosters beat the Rabbitohs 20-18 in a ...

The Roosters sit out Round 4 on the bye before returning to action against the Eels in week five. We sort of held our cool for a little bit there and then Brandon and Jared sort changed momentum there and then I felt like we sort of dominated from there on." After being bumped back to the bench in a late change by coach Trent Robinson, Smith came on and caused chaos for the Rabbitohs, with no better example than this clever run which had the defence scrambling for answers. there are some things to be positive about, but we have got to tidy up our ball control as well." I think it was seven line breaks to [the Roosters'] four, we had a 62 percent completion rate... "We didn't ice our chances, we probably had three or four tries we left out there, three clear cut ones I can remember.

Last year the Roosters lost the street fight, the plot and their season against arch-rivals South Sydney. This time, down the same dark alleyway, ...

The lid was only going to stay on for so long. The first time he belted the ball free with one of the finest try-saving efforts you’d hope to see. With three minutes left, Joey Manu ran down Isaiah Tass for the second time in the match. “I didn’t think it was going to be won in the first 20 minutes ... With the English international in the hands of the club doctor and Waerea-Hargreaves being swarmed by at least three defenders at a time, you wondered. And the Roosters under Trent Robinson have never fretted over completion rates. Glamorous stuff from the NRL’s glamour club. But so did Souths as players went down with cramp like they’d been snipered from the stands. Slowly, surely, the Roosters rage was contained and maintained. Slowly, surely, they inched ahead. So it went after the break. Where last year they lost the street fight and their season, this time, down the same dark alleyway, they boxed clever.

Sydney Roosters produced a statement victory over bitter rivals South Sydney after fighting back from two tries down to win 20-18.

“I was just sticking up for my teammate. Souths poked their noses back in front thanks to a penalty to lead 12-10 at the break. “There was three or four tries we left out there- three clear cut ones that I can remember. “It’s control at the play-the-ball. “It’s really important that they look individually and not look outwards for external excuses. But that’s not to say the weight of the contest couldn’t be felt even during a so-called regular round fixture. “When the time comes to stick up for your teammates, I think all the boys in our side will do it regardless of what game it is.” Yet when the dust settled and just two players had been sent to the bin - Manu and Michael Chee Kam - the Roosters managed to hold on for the nail-biting victory. “It was the story of the game really that we didn’t ice our chances,” Demetriou said in relation to bombed tries throughout that had them desperately clawing to nick the game at the death. Manu in particular had a massive part to play in stopping the Bunnies on two or three occasions. I think we had five or six of them where we just didn’t play it or lost control of the ball…it’s forcing us to do a lot of defending which then puts us on the backfoot with our attack. “We’re getting to our points and getting ready to pull the trigger and blokes aren’t controlling the footy.

The Sydney Roosters have avenged last year's bitter finals exit to South Sydney by claiming a 20-18 win...

A Mitchell penalty on the stroke of halftime gave Souths a 12-10 lead at the break but they were left to rue a missed opportunity when Campbell Graham butchered a two-on-one that would have sent Izaac Thompson in at the corner. But despite the early setback, the Rabbitohs were able to hit the lead through Keaon Kololoamatangi and then increase their advantage when Mitchell sent Alex Johnston in at the corner with a cutout pass. "It wasn't going to be won in the 20 minutes, but we knew the impact was coming."

The Sydney Roosters have won a battle with the South Sydney Rabbitohs 20-18 to write another chapter in their intense rivalry.

With the Rabbitohs on the back foot, the Roosters struck again to even the scores when Daniel Tupou scored off a Luke Keary kick. Fending off the Roosters attack, the Rabbitohs scored again. Shaking off the loss of Sele, the Rabbitohs set the tempo early.

Tempers flared during the fiery clash as both sides put on an entertaining game during the blockbuster encounter.

“He got it wrong. However, Robinson conceded he “got it wrong” this time. That’s why I did what I did.” “He (Manu) was trying to make the tackle on Tass that he made the play before (when he saved a try),” Robinson said during the post-match press conference. “It wasn’t going to be won in the 20 minutes, but we knew the impact was coming.” Manu was attempting to make a cover tackle on Rabbitohs centre Isaiah Tass as he raced for the try-line when he hit him high and forced a mistake, Manu then stood over Tass as he celebrated the play.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson will be sweating on the availability of his two first-choice centres, with Joey...

"It's been negative all week, let's focus on footy. "It's been so negative with guys having a go at 'Rads' (Victor Radley) and 'Jazz' (Jared Waerea-Hargreaves) and at Suaalii and 'Teddy'. The teenager is on his last warning and likely faces a ban for the incident after a turbulent week in which his name has dominated the news cycle.