Another attacking masterclass has led the Roosters to a dominant 38-18 victory over the Warriors, ensuring veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves celebrated his 300th club match in style.
With halves Sam Walker and Luke Keary tormenting the Warriors with their kicking game and Angus Crichton continuing his recent run of form, the Roosters had another day out at Allianz Stadium to make it three on the trot.
The Warriors meanwhile, will have some soul searching to do as they look to face the Panthers in Magic Round without star halfback Shaun Johnson who succumbed to a suspected pec injury late in the match.
The Roosters were on the attack right from the whistle and a Keary charge gave his side field position and Young capitalised in the next set, crossing over in the corner after some slick passing to the right.
Just two minutes later, Young broke through the line again before the Roosters kept the ball alive on the next play and Crichton crashed over after some crafty second phase play.
Angus Crichton 1st Try
A mistake by Edward Kosi deep in his own territory gave the Roosters an opportunity to set up off the scrum and Walker lopped a ball over for Young on the right for a 16-0 lead.
The tit-for-tat scoring sequence continued when Crichton pounced on a Keary grubber in the in goal and the Roosters made it four tries in 13 minutes.
The Warriors managed to wrestle back some momentum late int he first half and looked to open their account in the 36th minute when Johnson skipped through the line but the try was ruled out due to an obstruction by Jackson Ford.
Suaalii does just enough to foil DWZ
The Roosters found their mojo again early in the second half and after a Dallin Watene-Zelezniak denied Young a chance at a hat-trick, Walker produced a Cooper Cronk-esque cross-field kick which sailed over for Daniel Tupou to cross on the left.
Come the 49th minute Warriors finally got on the board when Johnson spotted Kosi open on the left edge and floated a ball over the top to reduce the deficit 32-6.
But any hopes of a Warriors comeback were quickly shut down when James Tedesco joined the party after Joey Manu put Joseph Suaalii into space who then found the skipper in support to score for a 32-6 lead.
The Warriors continued to hang tough however and after earning a repeat set on the Roosters’ line, fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad bursting through from close range.
But the Roosters had the final say when Keary punted a perfectly weighted grubber into the red zone and Walker was the beneficiary in a fitting end to the match for the star halves.
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Match Snapshot
- Roosters centre Joseph Suaalii was placed on report in the 74th minute for a late tackle on Dallin Watene-Zelezniak.
- The Warriors were their own worst enemy in the first half, completing just nine of their 15 sets and missing 25 tackles in the first half.
- Roosters winger Dominic Young had an incredible first half performance, running for 178 metres and crossing for two tries. The English star finished the match with 253 run metres, five line breaks and nine tackle breaks.
JWH celebrates 300
- Connor Watson stepped up at hooker in the absence of Brandon Smith, making 49 tackles and running 71 metres off nine scoots from dummy half.
- The Roosters have scored 138 points in their last three matches while the Warriors have conceded 79.
- The Warriors have lost their last eight games against the Roosters.
- Jared Waerea-Hargreaves became the fourth Roosters player to appear in 300 games for the club.
Play of the Game
Walker tormented the Warriors all afternoon with his kicking game but his 50-metre cross-field kick for Daniel Tupou early in the second half was absolutely pinpoint. The 45th minute assist was a Roosters coaching staff member and former premiership-winner Cooper Cronk classic, with the former halfback having worked closely with Walker in recent seasons.
Daniel Tupou Try
What They Said
"It was really high skill and high combination to start the game and it was really impressive. I like the confidence with how we're playing so we really want to hold onto that, but I would like some hardness to get into the game that we should have had there. When you get lots of options you see lots of things but it just gets a bit looser than it should and then that offers them opportunity and it ends up being 18 against where I would have liked a few more on the score total and a few less on the conceded. - Roosters coach Trent Robinson
Roosters: Round 10
"The first two sets we looked like we were there to play and then we got the ball charged down and after that, we didn't handle that period at all. They absolutely destroyed us in that period and we couldn't resist what they were throwing at us, didn't defend the way we wanted to and made it so hard on ourselves. They were a different beat today the Roosters." - Warriors coach Andrew Webster
Warriors: Round 10
What's Next
Both sides head to Brisbane for Magic Round where the Roosters will meet with the Sharks on Saturday while the Warriors take on the Panthers on Sunday.