The NSWRL's Junior Representative Grand Finalists have now been decided with the Magpies v Sharks in the Harold Matthews Cup, Roosters v Knights in the Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup and Roosters v Panthers in the SG Ball Cup, taking place next Saturday at CommBank Stadium.
Sharks monumental effort books spot in the Grand Final
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks have handed Sydney Roosters just their second loss of 2022 to book their spot in the 2022 Harold Matthews Cup Grand Final after a hard-fought 14-12 victory.
It was a dream start for the fourth-placed Sharks when they found themselves attacking the Roosters line after just two minutes. The right-edge combination of Bryce Sait and Joshua Sidoti opened the Sharks account and they took an early 4-0 lead.
With the Roosters leading the competition in attack and the Sharks in defence, both sides got into the arm wrestle until the Roosters finally cracked the Cronulla wall through centre Cooper Toy.
The Sharks would run in two more tries to captain Chevy Stewart and Jay Mclaughlin, giving them a handy 14-6 lead.
With the Sharks proving tough to crack, it took some individual brilliance from Jaxson Allen and Zac Sarfati to put them within striking distance. It was Toby Rodwell who capitalised on the very next play and once Lachlan Dooner converted, the Roosters trailed 14-12 with 17 minutes remaining.
It was a monumental effort from the Sharks to hold on, especially after Alex McFadden was sent to the bin in the first half and arguably their biggest strike weapon Chevy Stewart followed suit in the second half.
Despite the Roosters throwing everything at them, the Sharks managed to hold on for an incredible 14-12 win and a chance at Premiership glory next Saturday at CommBank Stadium.
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Roosters continue winning ways
Sydney Roosters have defeated Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 32-12 to secure their spot in the 2022 SG Ball Cup Grand Final.
The tricolours came into the game undefeated and with the best defence in the competition, leaving the Bulldogs with a tough challenge.
While the Bulldogs were able to go set-for-set with the Roosters for the opening 20 minutes, the tricolours finally broke the deadlock when five-eighth Ethan Strange split the defence in two and found Kyron Fekitoa supporting on his outside.
As the Roosters forwards started to lay a great platform, Benjamin Dufficy grubbered the ball through and unfortunately for the Dogs, the ball bounced off the goalpost and into the hands of Cassius Tia who scored the Roosters second try.
The Bulldogs hit back through Lajaun Vito who dived on a loose ball to get his side to 10-4 heading into the sheds at halftime.
It was a second-half blitz from the Chooks as Siaosi Kaliti and Strange bagged a double and Xavier Chatfield-Mooka crashed over for a four-pointer. While the Dogs would keep their account ticking over through a try to Jarvis Leafa, the Roosters showed why they have been the competition benchmark throughout the 2022 season.
Click here for more SG Ball Cup results
Roosters too strong for valiant Tigers
After losing last year’s Grand Final, Sydney Roosters Indigenous Academy have given themselves a chance at redemption after defeating Wests Tigers 22-8 to book a spot in the Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup Grand Final.
It was some individual brilliance from Losana Lutu that broke a Roosters defence that had only conceded 34 points throughout the 2022 season. Imogen Gobran converted to put the Tigers up 6-0 after just seven minutes.
Roosters fullback Jada Taylor has been terrorising defences all year and today was no different. With her side trailing, Taylor hit the ball at speed down the left-hand side of the field, putting on a nice left-foot step to beat the fullback and score under the sticks.
With the Tigers leading 8-6 at halftime, the Roosters forwards came out of the sheds firing and Kalosipani Hopoate spurred her team on when she carried several defenders over the line to put the Roosters up 10-8.
After Otesa Pule was held up over the line, the Roosters would not be denied and the very next play Taylor put Zoe Cass over in the corner with a brilliant ball.
Their third try in quick succession came off the back of a great run from centre Elizabeth Lomu-Stewart to put the Chooks deep inside Tigers territory. They quickly spread the ball to the left and eventually stripped the Tigers for numbers when Ally Bullman scored in the left corner.
From there, the Tigers simply couldn’t stop the onslaught of the Roosters attack as they marched up field and Taylor pulled off arguably the play of the game. Lingering on the right edge, Taylor put a deft grubber kick through and got a dream bounce crashing over to secure a 22-8 win for her side.
Click here for more Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup results
