Source : the age
Brisbane are throwing everything at the Roosters late here, Reece Walsh sending Jesse Arthars clear down the right, then testing the Chooks out with a bomb close to their line. But Billy Smith handles the bomb well before the Brisbane’s Blake Mozer gives away a penalty for a high shot.
As time ticks away, Jordan Riki strips the ball in a two-man tackle and is penalised. The Broncos challenge it – they pretty much have to, at this point – but the bunker sides with the on-field referee and the Roosters get the chance to play out this final minute (they turn down what could have also been a match-winning penalty goal).
The Chooks play out a very slow final set and hang on to a hard-fought win, and stretch Brisbane’s losing streak to seven games.
Full-time: Roosters 24 beat Broncos 18 at Suncorp Stadium
Payne Haas makes a big carry, busting the Roosters’ line then popping an offload (he’s made the most metres and the most tackles of any player tonight) then the Broncos draw a penalty when Egan Butcher is pinged for a hip drop on Aublix Tawha.
Reece Walsh slots a penalty goal to bring the deficit back to a converted try.
Roosters 24, Broncos 18 with six minutes left
A penalty against Grant Anderson for having a hand in the ruck gives the Roosters a breather, a penalty goal and an eight-point lead, which takes the air out of the contest a little heading into the final 10 minutes.
It feels like the crowd can feel a seventh-straight loss coming for their team, though the Broncos have been right in this game all night.
The Roosters get over the tryline again in the following set, but only after Mark Nawaqanitawase jumps for a bomb and knocks the ball forward.
Roosters 24, Broncos 16 with nine minutes left
This see-sawing contest has turned the Roosters’ way again, Sam Walker making a half break and offloading to ground, with Daly Cherry-Evans eventually getting to the loose ball.
Then Reece Robson loops a long, flat (maybe more than flat) pass to Hugo Savala who gets outside the Broncos’ defence as Ben Hunt attempts an intercept.
Savala turns a pass to Billy Smith and Smith sends Walker over for the try. Walker converts himself and the visitors are back in control.
Roosters 22, Broncos 16 with 18 minutes left
Great play by the Roosters from inside their own half, Connor Watson breaking a tackle and breaking clear, then linking up with Sam Walker who chips a kick over the top of Reece Walsh. James Tedesco is leading the chase, but Broncos five-eighth Tom Duffy beats him to the ball hand punches it over the dead-ball line.
From the resulting drop-out the Roosters look right and left but the Broncos’ scramble defence is up to the task.
Broncos 16, Roosters 16 with 25 minutes left
We’ve had our second failed HIA of this game, Lindsay Collins undergoing a test at the half-time break and being ruled out for the rest of the contest. Brisbane lost Xavier Willison to a HIA early in the first half.
Broncos 16, Roosters 16 with 32 minutes left
That didn’t take long. After a couple of plays the Roosters send it through the hands to the left. Like he was early in the game Billy Smith finds himself with the ball with not a lot of space, but this time he does brilliantly to hold off Jesse Arthars and crash over in the corner.
Sam Walker has a tough conversion attempt to put his team in front but he misses it right.
Broncos 16, Roosters 16 with 36 minutes left
It’s really raining hard in Brisbane as the teams come out for the second half, and Brisbane’s Jack Gosiewski takes the first hit-up after the break only to be met with a crunching hit from Salesi Foketi. Gosiewski takes a little while to get to his feet after that one.
These conditions will make free-flowing attack a little trickier, but the Roosters love to chance their hand whenever they can – even this season when completion rates appear to be more important than ever. The Chooks completed just 63% of their first-half sets, compared with Brisbane’s 82%.
Now the bunker is taking a look at a possible professional foul as Mark Nawaqanitawase is interfered with while going up for a bomb in the Broncos’ in-goal. The verdict is it’s a penalty but no sin-bin or penalty try. In any case, the Roosters have the chance to regain the lead.
Broncos 16, Roosters 12 with 38 minutes left
Stephen Crichton’s reinvention as a five-eighth is continuing to bear fruit for Canterbury as the Bulldogs captain shrugged off another injury scare in a 30-12 win over the Gold Coast.
Six days on from his field-goal heroics in the Dogs’ defeat of Manly – and in just his second NRL game in the halves – Crichton showed the poise of a veteran playmaker by guiding Cameron Ciraldo’s side to a third win on the spin.
The Samoan international had three assists and kicked five goals on Friday at Cbus Super Stadium, playing on after reeling out of a tackle on Gold Coast fullback Keano Kini late in the first half.
Crichton, who missed game two of the State of Origin series with a shoulder injury, made it to half-time and then soldiered on to put the Titans to bed in the second half.
The only injury concern for Ciraldo, as his side claimed a fourth win in five games, was winger Jacob Kiraz, who picked up a suspected rib injury and was replaced by Bronson Xerri.
