Roosters ominous in big win
The Sydney Roosters showed scary potential to claim their third-straight NRL Premiership later this year with an outstanding 42-12 victory over the Newcastle Knights at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday.
There was hardly a single player to fault in the Tri-Colours with an all-round dominant performance sending a warning to their NRL rivals.
After the game bigname recruit Sonny Bill Williams still expressed the team’s desire to improve even further.
‘‘Tonight I think our completion rate was a little bit down, but in saying that we’re happy where we are and [we’ve] just got to keep working on that,’’ Williams, who had seven passes, three offloads, one linebreak, 62 metres gained in 11 carries and 19 tackles, told Fox Sports.
‘‘The more we can flow, the more we can work on our combos.’’
Williams was in awe of how much the team had grown since he left the Roosters after the 2014 season, particularly their back five of James Tedesco, Josh and Brett Morris, Joseph Manu and Daniel Tupou.
‘‘I was just sitting there [on the bench] and actually thinking like, man, how big the lads have gotten over the last six years,’’ the former All Blacks star said.
‘‘It’s quite special just coming back and being in a team that’s moving so well. Those back five show me the way.’’
Earlier in the night, league legend and NRL commentator
Greg Alexander was impressed by Williams’ ‘‘halfback play’’ in his 33 minutes off the bench for the Roosters, but the Kiwi said it’s all just a part of the gig.
‘‘I’m 35, so I have got to have a point of difference,’’ he said.
‘‘For myself it’s a privilege to come back in the team. It’s a welloiled machine and I just try to add my two cents.
‘‘Tonight was a step in the right direction. We want to seal that top spot, but want to keep
improving towards the finals.’’
The Roosters moved to third on the NRL ladder after the victory, and while their spot in the finals was not under threat, the defeat surely put a hole in the sails of Newcastle at the pointy end of the season.
Cordner and the Roosters wore black armbands and had a minute of silence before kick-off in memory of the skipper’s cousin Joel Dark who tragically died on Friday at just 19 years of age.