World Club Challenge 2019

Big Pete

Big Pete

International Captain
Mar 12, 2008
31,441
23,790
Sydney Roosters 20 (B. Morris 3, D. Tupou tries; Taukeiaho 1/3, Tedesco 0/1 goals) def. Wigan Warriors 8 (T. Davies, L. Marshall tries; Z. Hardaker 0/2 goals)

Sydney
1. James Tedesco
2. Daniel Tupou
5. Brett Morris
4. Joseph Manu
20. Matt Ikuvalu
6. Luke Keary
7. Cooper Cronk
8. Jared Warea-Hargreaves
9. Jake Friend
10. Sio Siua Taukeiaho
11. Boyd Corder
3. Mitchell Aubusson
13. Victor Radley

14. Issac Liu
15. Zane Tetevano
16. Lindsay Collins
17. Nat Butcher

Wigan
20. Zak Hardaker
2. Tom Davies
3. Dan Sarginson
4. Oliver Gildart
17. Liam Marshall
6. George Williams
7. Thomas Leuluai
8. Tony Clubb
9. Sam Powell
10. Ben Flower
11. Joe Greenwood
12. Liam Farrell
13. Sean O'Laughlin

14. Romain Navarrete
15. Willie Isa
16. Gabe Hamlin
22. Joe Bullock

Sydney opened their 2019 account with a commanding win in the World Club Championship exhibition game.

It looked like it was going to be a massacre early on. Gildart couldn't handle Brett Morris and the Roosters had two tries without hardly breaking a sweat.

Then JWH couldn't help himself and caught two Wigan players with cheap shots in the ensuing play. It woke the Warriors up and while it wasn't pretty, they actually started playing some footy and scored in the corner.

It was pretty even for most of the first half, but the Warriors kicking game eventually took it's toll and the Roosters were able to work themselves into good field position. They didn't waste much time getting the ball to Morris and he made short work of Gildart once more.

The Roosters looked like they were going to go on from it from there, but the Warriors kept holding them out by the skin of their teeth. Eventually momentum shifted and the Warriors were able to make the most of their opportunity with Williams throwing a do or die cut-out pass that Marshall was able to put on his boot, pick up and score.

16-8 and all the momentum was the Warriors way. When George Williams put a kick in behind the line and had the Roosters struggling to work it out of their own half, it appeared the upset was on the cards. But then they started impatient football, with forwards kicking for themselves and the like. Gildart had an opportunity to redeem himself, but he couldn't capitilise on the ricochet.

Off a 20m restart, the Roosters showed their class. Off a 20m restart they forced a goal line drop-out. The Warriors actually got it back off the short restart but couldn't do anything with it. The Roosters worked another goal-line drop out and off the ensuing set, worked a cross-field kick to Tupou and Davies made the mistake of taking him on in the air.

20-8 and it was game over.

The Roosters picked up where they left off. Cronk & Keary led the team around well on the park and the middles controlled the ruck well. They're still the masters of spoiling the play. Whenever the opposition looks likely, they'll do everything to give away the penalty.

The Warriors didn't build much pressure but they did well to hang in for most of the match. Gildart had a shocker and the last tackle plays were forgettable but when wanted to spread the footy and challenge the Roosters inside defenders they were giving them something to think about. For the most part, I thought they were guilty of setting up for the next play. Lots of short passes to forwards when playing out the back was also an option. I could understand it if you had Asofa-Solomona, Bromwich etc. but Liam Farrell doesn't exactly breathe fear into the hearts of men. Last tackle plays weren't great either which was a shame because when Williams played with options he was impressive.
 
It'll be interesting to see if he can replicate that form on the other side of the field. I don't see why he shouldn't be able to, I just can't recall him ever playing on the right wing.
 
From watching that game, one rule crackdown the nrl definitely got right was the play the ball. Roosters in general got their feet to the ball or at least made the effort. Wigan were just flat out rolling the ball back under their legs. When it was easy to compare the two it really showed up how, from letting a simple rule go unpoliced you can end up with an appalling feature in a game. Looked shocking when Wigan were playing the ball.
 
From watching that game, one rule crackdown the nrl definitely got right was the play the ball. Roosters in general got their feet to the ball or at least made the effort. Wigan were just flat out rolling the ball back under their legs. When it was easy to compare the two it really showed up how, from letting a simple rule go unpoliced you can end up with an appalling feature in a game. Looked shocking when Wigan were playing the ball.

Happened in the 2016 WCC too, and the advantage it gave the Pom teams is what ended up convincing the NRL teams to start the ol' tunnel ball again. The NRL took a full year to start officiating it properly.
 

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