Bulldogs no match for runaway Roosters
It was billed as the grudge match of the season as the Sydney Roosters lined up against the Canterbury Bulldogs at the Sydney’s Olympic stadium.
The reason for this was the defection of Bulldogs forward Willie Mason to the Roosters. Many of the Bulldogs players felt betrayed by his move in the off season.
In a match that was expected to have plenty of big hits in the early exchanges it did not quite live up to expectations. The match was tight in the first 10 or 15 minutes with the Bulldogs looking good with plenty of crisp ball movement.
The feature of the opening period was the Roosters ability to fiercely defend their try line. As they showed last week against the Melbourne Storm the Roosters have fully committed and well organised defence.
After the Bulldogs were not able to cross the Roosters tryline the match quickly changed as the Roosters saw big Willie Mason stroll over for the opening try after 19 minutes. Two more converted tries and a penalty followed to see the Roosters go to the half time break with a commanding 20-0 lead.
In the opening round of the NRL season the Canterbury Bulldogs found themselves with a 20-0 halftime lead against Parramatta which they let slip. Some may have thought the Bulldogs could repeat the feat but this time come from behind to win.
The Roosters were not wanting to let this happen and tries to Mason and Fitzgibbon took the Roosters to a 30-0 lead. By the 58th minute the match was pretty much in the bag for the Roosters.
In the 62nd minute the Bulldogs finally got on the scoreboard when Ben Roberts went over for a try. The El Masri conversion took the score to 30-6.
The Bulldogs received a penalty just after the restart and were looking to score again. The Bulldogs made a schoolboy error and failed to find the side line when taking the penalty kick. On the following play the Roosters got a penalty. They were able to capitalizer on this and move the ball to the other end of the field. Following some good ball movement and a chip kick by Anasta the Roosters scored again when Sa scrambled over in the corner.
The Roosters were in again on 77 minutes when Shaun Kenny-Dowall crossed over. The try was converted by Amos Roberts and the Bulldogs were looking for the kennel to go and hide as the score moved to 40-6.
The Bulldogs scored a late consolation try when Corey Hughes went over late in the match. El Masri converted to make the final score 40-12.
It was a night well and truly owned by the Roosters and their superb defence.
In tonights other match the Melbourne Storm ended the unbeaten run of the Brisbane Broncos winning at home 28-8. The Storm were always in control and took an 18-4 lead into the half time break.
The second half saw the Storm add another 10 points while the Broncos could manage just four points.
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