Fressard bags three as second-half Roosters surge sinks Sharks
- Author
- Timestamp
The Roosters ran in five second-half tries after trailing early to cruise to a comfortable 36-12 victory over the Sharks at PointsBet Stadium on Sunday.
Star playmaker Tarryn Aiken controlled proceedings and winger Jayme Fressard bagged a hat-trick as the pair combined with centres Isabelle Kelly (281 run metres) and Jess Sergis (145 run metres) to lift the side to their third NRLW win.
Cronulla led 12-10 midway through the match but the Roosters went on a run in the second half, with Aiken providing plenty of punch on the left edge with the home side kept scoreless after the break.
Fressard hit the record books as the seventh NRLW player to score a hat-trick and just the second Rooster behind Taleena Simon, who scored four tries in 2018 for the Tricolours, to bag three tries.
Cronulla clicked into gear early on the back of a pinpoint last tackle kick from replacement hooker Brooke Anderson forcing a Roosters knock on downfield.
Holli Wheeler 15th minute try
Returning playmaker Maddie Studdon made the most of their first attacking opportunity, finding Emma Tonegato out of the scrum who burnt Sergis on the outside before finding Kiana Takairangi on the edge.
Come the 15th minute and the home side extended the lead when Ellie Johnston came up with a superb offload for Holli Wheeler who charged over from close range to score her first try as a Shark. Preston's conversion made it 12-0.
The Roosters were back in the contest when Fressard made the Sharks pay for a misfired Tonegato pass, pouncing on the loose ball and fending off Studdon to score a 60m runaway try and reduce the deficit to six.
Jayme Fressard 45th minute try
Fressard went back-to-back five minutes later when the Tricolours fooled the Sharks left edge defenders with a slick right-side raid sending the winger ober again to make it 12-10 at the break.
The sides traded sets and errors in the opening 10 minutes of the second half but the Roosters stole the lead when Aiken and Kelly combined to send fullback Corban Baxter over to score.
Baxter made a statement against her junior club when she turned provider to put the visitors further ahead, delivering a looping pass to the right edge to hand Fressard a hat-trick.
After laying on some crucial tackles to keep the Sharks scoreless in the second-half, Olivia Kernick was the beneficiary of some nice lead up work from forward Otesa Pule to extend the Roosters' lead 26-12 with 11 minutes to play.
A long run by Kelly downfield set up Sergis in the 59th minute, which was enough to put the game to bed but Kelly wasn't done with yet when she finished off an Aiken linebreak to ice the victory for the visitors.
Match: Sharks v Roosters
Round 4 -
home Team
Sharks
9th Position
away Team
Roosters
1st Position
Venue: PointsBet Stadium, Sydney
Match Snapshot
- Sharks forward Harata Butler was placed on report in the 31st minute for an alleged hip drop tackle.
- Jayme Fressard was sent for a HIA in the 52nd minute of the match but returned 15 minutes later.
- Roosters coach John Strange missed the match due to his son Ethan's NRL debut in Melbourne on the same day, with Sky Blues coach Kylie Hilder stepping up in his absence.
- Sharks forward Holli Wheeler was placed on report in the 57th minute for verbal dissent.
- Forward Millie Boyle got through 33 tackles for the Roosters with no misses and ran 114 metres with the ball.
- Sharks veteran playmaker Maddie Studdon returned to the NRLW for the first time since Round 5 2021.
- After missing both conversion attempts in Round 3 and going down to the Titans by two points, Preston was assured on the boot, kicking two from two.
Play of the Game
Roosters five-eighth Tarryn Aiken showed her class in the 40th minute when she orchestrated an off-the-cuff play to put the Roosters in the lead early in the second half. Aiken took on the line and squared up to Sharks defenders before putting a charging Isabelle Kelly through a hole, who fended her way to the line before finding Corban Baxter inside to score.
Corban Baxter 39th minute try
What They Said
"It was a little bit of a concern to go in at half-time being down 12-10 and knowing we weren't playing our style of footy. It was a nice turnaround. We couldn't complete [in the first half]. John is in Melbourne and he was on the phone to one of our other assistants in the box and the messages were coming down from there. It was an important day for Strangey and that's something we all agreed." - Roosters assistant coach Kylie Hilder.
"We started well and had a chance to go toe-to-toe with them. Things were going our way and we were in a grind and then we just fell away. We didn't find a way to bring back that momentum and it ended the way it did. We thought at 12-10 we were right in the game. We completed six of 12 in the second half." - Sharks coach Tony Herman.
NRLW Press Conference: Sharks v Roosters- Round 4, 2023
What's Next
Both teams head to Queensland in Round 5 with the Sharks flying to Townsville to meet with the Cowboys on Thursday while the Roosters visit the Titans on the Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon.
