The Roosters have held on for an epic 27-26 Anzac Day victory despite Victor Radley being binned late as the Dragons roared to life in the second half.
St George Illawarra closed a 14-point gap to level the scores at 26-26 with 15 minutes to play, but a late Luke Keary field goal proved the difference in front of 40,191 fans at Allianz Stadium.
Roosters enforcer Radley became the most binned player in NRL history when he was marched for the ninth time following a high shot in the 64th minute.
The Roosters new halves pairing of man-of-the-match Keary and Joey Manu wasted no time looking the goods.
The Chooks halves scored a try apiece, with Keary setting up Manu’s in the 46th minute for a 26-12 lead.
But some Tyrell Sloan and Moses Suli magic put the Dragons on the brink of a huge upset.
The Roosters looked like they’d take 26-6 lead into halftime but the Bunker controversially intervened in what has proved a 12-point decision.
The hosts were denied their fourth try after it was awarded as the Bunker found Brandon Smith to have passed the ball off the ground earlier in the set.
“I don’t think the Bunker should be able to overrule that,” Andrew Voss said on Fox League in reference to how far back the video referee should be allowed to go.
The Dragons were awarded a penalty and marched down field to score on the ensuing set through Jack Bird.
James Tedesco crossed for his first try of the season to give the Roosters a 6-0 lead after just six minutes.
Radley threw a perfect pass for Egan Butcher to burst through of the field before finding Tedesco backing up on the inside.
“They went straight down highway number one at Allianz, he could have run all the way to Randwick,” Andrew Voss said on Fox League.
“What a try so early. A stunning blow.”
Tedesco almost had a second break in as many minutes but the hole only opened due to an obstruction and he was pinged, which led to the Dragons’ opening try.
Ben Hunt hit Mosese Suli with a cut-out pass and he then found Tautau Moga who held on to cross in the corner on 15 minutes and Zac Lomax nailed the sideline conversion.
“The hands from Moga were special. He had to reach behind and then juggled it,” Greg Alexander said.
But the Roosters marched back down in field and Radley turned from provider to scorer after running a great line onto a short ball from Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
“Oh that is some soft hands, Jared sends Radley over, brilliant work,” Voss said.
“They weren’t ready for the flat ball from Waerea-Hargreaves, they were thinking ball out the back,” Alexander responded.
Roosters centre Joseph Suaalii booted a penalty goal to make it 14-6 after 25 minutes.
Just moments later the Roosters were back attacking the Dragons’ line, Manu sent it left and on the next play Keary came back through the middle to score.
Keary dummied to Butcher on his inside before stepping off his left and scoring next to the posts in the 28th minute.
“Great ball play from Keary. When Keary jumps into No.7 he gets the job done perfectly,” Alexander said.
The controversial Bunker moment happened in the 32nd minute and the Dragons scored following the penalty when Bird pounced on a loose ball after a bomb.
“Massive swing. Dragons starring down a 26-6 scoreline and it’s now 20-12,” Alexander said.
“They make the most of the luck that’s come their way.”
Manu opened the second half with his eighth try against the Dragons in eight games after carrying three defenders over the line to score.
“The Roosters with another one of their big match players going over for a try,” Voss said.
“The Dragons were going backwards, the Roosters were coming at them and in the end that was too much,” Alexander responded.
But the Dragons hit back thanks to some individual brilliance from Tyrell Sloan who beat two players then sent delivered a flick pass for Moga to score his second n the 51st minute.
Sloan then crossed for one of his own just two minutes later after Suli broke down the right wing and found his fullback back inside.
“The Dragons are literally breathing fire. Their attack has been ignited,” Voss said.
“How good is it to see Tyrell Sloan do some of the things he has this afternoon,” Alexander responded.
“The speed and the step of Tyrell Sloan, how good is it to see.”
Moga then bagged his hat-trick when Suli shrugged off three defenders to put his winger over in the corner in the 59th minute.
Radley was controversially binned when he hit Michael Molo front on and it was deemed high after the Dragons forward stayed down.
But the visitors couldn’t turn the man advantage into points and it was Manu who threw the pass for Keary to knock over the winning field goal in the 74th minute.
KEARY MANU COMBINATION DELIVERS BUT ONLY JUST
The Roosters tried to shake up their attack by dropping Sam Walker and replacing him in the halves with Joseph Manu and for most of the game it worked.
However, after their second half capitulation the Keary-Manu halves combination is still a work in progress.
Still, the class of both players shone through in the big moments to get the Roosters home in a thriller.
Manu finished with 97 run metres, nine tackle busts, an offload, a linebreak and a try, while Keary had 48 run metres, a linebreak, a linebreak assist, a try assist, a try and the match winning field goal.
Cooper Cronk lauded the impact of the Roosters’ big stars, but there were none better than Keary and Manu with the game on the line.
“That was so much fun to watch, the players this season just keep delivering,” Cronk said.
“That was a dominant powerful performance at the start of the game from the big guns form the Roosters.
“Waerea-Hargreaves and Radley were great.
“Keary had some nice touches and with the game on the line gets down and slots the field goal.
“Keary went to the pocket and Joseph Manu saw the ball and ran from dummyhalf and I dare say another 10 Roosters were yelling to pass it back to Keary because he was in the pocket.”
Corey Parker believes the class of the Roosters is what got them home in an epic contest.
“Luke Keary stood up and kicked the winning field goal,” Parker said.
“The stars just stand up.
“Tedesco was outstanding.
“Manu goes into the No.6 and was outstanding.
“Keary starts to shine in a team that has had plenty of change around the halves.”
SLOAN SHINES IN DRAGONS’ EPIC COMEBACK
The Dragons may have gone down in a one-point thriller, but they did themselves proud in the second half, inspired by a brilliant display from fullback Tyrell Sloan.
Sloan finished with 103 metres, five tackle busts, two offloads, two linebreak assists, a try assist and a try to nearly get his team a victory from 26-8 down at one stage.
Corey Parker heaped praise on Sloan and believes this match could be the making of him as a future star of the NRL.
“Tyrell Sloan was incredible in the second half,” Parker said.
“For the young man to really stand tall in the big occasion under the bright lights at a Stadium where it was full and the game was on the line.
“I thought he was exceptional in getting his team back in the game from where they came from.
“Confidence can do a lot and from what we have seen from Sloan he is a bit of a confidence player.
“But what he should get out of this second half performance after nearly dragging his team to victory should be enormous.”
Cooper Cronk agreed Sloan was the player to inspire the Dragons’ comeback with a bit of help from Moses Suli and hat-trick hero Tautau Moga on the right edge.
“Tyrell Sloan one of the youngest guys in the competition and one of the biggest freaks,” Cronk said.
“It was his first ANZAC Day game and he had one run in the first half.
“The second half he comes out with nine runs, two linebreak assists, a try assist, a try for himself and that right edge attack with Moses Suli and Tautau Moga.
“Moga scored a hat-trick and just terrorised that left edge.
“It was Manu who scored first after half-time and it was 26-8 and then the Dragons scored three tries in eight minutes and it was Sloan.
“Sloan said to Ben Hunt, give me the ball and they just attacked down the right-hand side.”
RADLEY SIN-BINNED AGAIN IN COSTLY MOMENT
Victor Radley became the most sin-binned player in NRL history with his ninth 10-minute spell in the second half that nearly cost his side victory.
Radley was deemed to have collected Michael Molo high with his shoulder, despite the Roosters believing it was a head clash between both players.
Corey Parker believes Radley’s sin bin was contentious, but given his history he can’t afford to tackle anywhere near above the shoulders without repercussions.
“This is going to be a talking point in regards to Victor Radley sin-binned again,” Parker said.
“I think we heard Tedesco say through the referee’s mic that if it was any other player he wouldn’t be going to the bin.
“But you have to slow it all down.
“You got the sense the Dragons were starting to come back into the game in terms of getting the ascendancy in the game.
“In that period of time Radley and Waerea-Hargreaves came back onto the field and you just got that sense that one of those two players was going to try and lift their team with some sort of inspiring play.
“Victor has spoken openly about that and he got it wrong. It was contact to the head and he spent time in the bin, which nearly cost his team.”
Cooper Cronk believes Radley’s sin bin could have been tough if it was a head clash, but if there was any contact with his shoulder and Molo’s head it was the right call.
“Any contact to the head he is in trouble,” Cronk said.
“At first look Molo grabbed his head, but Radley grabbed his head at the same time.
“One angle showed a little bit of shoulder contact and the other one didn’t.
“That was just one of those grey areas, but the Roosters did a good job to deal with it because that could have been huge in terms of the context of the game.”
Luckily for the Roosters and Radley they held on for a tight win.
