The Roosters have assumed top spot on the NRLW ladder with a week to go in the regular season, following a 24-12 victory over the Cowboys in Gosford on Sunday.
With their sixth win of 2024 the Tricolours climbed above both the Broncos and Sharks on points differential, on a day in which skipper Isabelle Kelly and hooker Keeley Davis each celebrated their 40th appearance at NRLW level.
Kelly was enormous in her milestone game, carrying the ball 28 times for a colossal 350 metres, with two line breaks to go with it.
While it was far from their best outing of the year, the Roosters executed a simple game plan, which was built around completion rate that sat in the high 80 percent range for much of the contest and a strong platform laid by their pack, brilliantly.
Coach John Strange would also have taken heart from the fact that they conjured up four tries and seven line breaks despite the absence of chief playmaker Tarryn Aiken who is sidelined by a shoulder injury.
Olivia Kernick Try
While it was the hosts who took the initial lead thanks to Olivia Kernick's try inside five minutes, North Queensland scored the next two and enjoyed the lead for the best part of 20 minutes before the break.
After Kirra Dibb sold the defence with a dummy from close range for her first try of the season, Jakiya Whitfeld charged over from the same spot on the field, with Dibb able to convert both efforts.
Jakiya Whitfeld Try
Salt was rubbed into the wound for the Tricolours when Eliza Lopamaua was sent to the sin bin for a hip drop tackle in the lead up to Whitfeld's try, but they ended up being next to score anyway when Amber Hall powered over and the Bunker cleared the grounding.
A Jasmine Strange try seconds from the break, which came after a monster carry from Hall that put the defence on the back foot, gave the hosts a 18-12 lead at half-time.
Jasmin Strange Try
As the game sat in the balance it was a barnstorming run from Otesa Pule, in which she broke four tackle attempts on her way to the line, that gave the Tricolours the comfort of a 12-point advantage with 20 to play.
North Queensland had chances to pull themselves back into the game late on, helped by a strong showing from Dibb which saw her cause constant issues for the Roosters' back three with her long kicks, but they couldn't find enough to break down an organised defensive line.
Amid the joy of victory, the Roosters will be sweating on the availability of skipper Kelly after she hobbled off in the dying seconds with what appeared to be a foot or ankle injury.
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Match Snapshot
- The Roosters have now won four straight games on the Central Coast and scored a combined 128 points along the way.
- The Tricolours forced 50 missed tackles from the Cowboys as they ran up 1778 metres.
- New Zealand Test forward Amber Hall was an outstanding contributor again, scoring the Roosters' second try on a day in which she had 12 tackle breaks and 11 carries for 107 metres.
Amber Hall Try
- Cowboys lock Bree Chester made a whopping 57 tackles.
- Eliza Lopamaua was sin-binned for a hip drop 17 minutes into the match, while Roosters teammate Millie Elliott (hair pull) was also put on report.
- North Queensland forward Tiana Raftstrand-Smith was put on report in the second half for a hip drop.
Eliza Lopamaua sent to the bin
- Jakiya Whitfeld's try in the first half made it six in seven games for the Cowboys centre.
- Roosters captain Isabelle Kelly and hooker Keeley Davis each celebrated their 40th NRL appearance in the victory.
Play of the Game
From the first attempted tackle on this run, Otesa Pule never looked like being stopped. The Kiwi Ferns' forward broke through four would-be tackles to get over for a try which gave the Roosters a two-score lead with 20 to go.
Otesa Pule Try
What They Said
"[The bench] were really good, 'Hally' [Amber Hall] has been doing that the last couple of weeks... Millie [Elliott] was fantastic when she came on, she played the full 35 in the second half in the middle. She was outstanding." – Roosters coach John Strange.
Roosters: Round 8
"We let the game get away from us and we sort of went away from what we knew was going to work. We shot ourselves in the foot, there's no other way of looking at it. We weren't good enough today." – Cowboys coach Ricky Henry.
Cowboys: Round 8