Originally posted by Rooster_6
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Round 13 Roosters Vs Canberra Raiders
Roosters 48 defeat Canberra Raiders 24
Both teams came into this contest on 12 points, 5 wins & a bye but Roosters with a few players returning from injury over the past couple of weeks and players dropping back down after filling in for origin were probably fielding their strongest side of the comp so far this year. Roosters were very dominant for 70mins of the game, outside of a 10min period between 55th to 65th minute where Canberra scored 18 of their 24 points it was a very convincing performance. Halves lead the team well, played very expansive on what looked a dry and fast track, forwards were all very good and outside backs did their thing. Couldn't fault the performance.
Best on Ground
*I will say it was very hard to pick a best 3, there weren't any real standouts but everyone just played between a 7/10 to 8/10 game right across the board.
3. Jake Elliott - had some really nice moments of class, first try he put Warwick into a hole with a nice short ball, supported well to grab himself a try just before half time and then threw a lovely cut out pass before the end of the game to set up Tom Rodwell for his 4th try of the game. I thought he had a really nice balance between his running game and passing game today and he looked the most free I've seen him this season.
2. Owen Flaherty, not sure how much centre he has played as he's typically used as a fullback but I thought he had some really classy moments. Was involved in two tries, scored the 4th try of the game with a nice dummy and then left foot step and set up a try towards the end of the game where again he threw a nice dummy, showed a bit of speed to break through the line and then drew and pass to set up Rodwell's 3rd try of the game
1. Tom Rodwell, hard not to include him after he scored 4 tries highlighted by one full length of the field try after he had defused a bomb. Showed some surprising speed on that try, not saying he's Dom Young quick but he's more of your stocky, low centre of gravity power based winger so I was surprised he continued to draw away from the Raiders defenders as easily as he did. As usual plenty of involvement in yardage for him as well.
Other Thoughts
- With Young potentially missing the 2nd origin affected game and definitely the 3rd it will be interesting to see if Robbo goes with King in the centres or Rodwell on the wing. Both are standouts at this level but Ethan King just strikes me as a player with a lot of class and good game iq. Not sure how far away Pauga is with his back injury..
- Thought Townsend was great just controlling the game, his width of passing and kicking game were top notch. I think there's still a lot of value to having an experienced player at this level guiding around the young kids and actually letting them play and develop rather than always being on the backfoot as they struggle to compete against men. DCE will do great in this role next year
- Xavier Va'a, all his carries were very strong but unfortunately took what looked like a head knock early in his second stint after he pulled of a great shot close to the line to force a Raiders error.
- Losalu is an absolute beast, would've had 4 or so carries where he just steam rolled the Raiders and made 20+ metres on those carries. He went 30minutes in his first stint too so his endurance seems to be continuing to build.
- Dockar-Clay, Warwick, Roberts, Moriaty all 7/10 performers, good performances with some nice touches.
- DLS Va'a got about 20 minutes, looked strong but started to gas towards the end so obviously still a little off in match fitness
- Lavakeiaho on debut got 10-15 minutes but poor kid came on during the Raiders 10min run so was mainly defending.
Roosters 48 defeat Canberra Raiders 24
Both teams came into this contest on 12 points, 5 wins & a bye but Roosters with a few players returning from injury over the past couple of weeks and players dropping back down after filling in for origin were probably fielding their strongest side of the comp so far this year. Roosters were very dominant for 70mins of the game, outside of a 10min period between 55th to 65th minute where Canberra scored 18 of their 24 points it was a very convincing performance. Halves lead the team well, played very expansive on what looked a dry and fast track, forwards were all very good and outside backs did their thing. Couldn't fault the performance.
Best on Ground
*I will say it was very hard to pick a best 3, there weren't any real standouts but everyone just played between a 7/10 to 8/10 game right across the board.
3. Jake Elliott - had some really nice moments of class, first try he put Warwick into a hole with a nice short ball, supported well to grab himself a try just before half time and then threw a lovely cut out pass before the end of the game to set up Tom Rodwell for his 4th try of the game. I thought he had a really nice balance between his running game and passing game today and he looked the most free I've seen him this season.
2. Owen Flaherty, not sure how much centre he has played as he's typically used as a fullback but I thought he had some really classy moments. Was involved in two tries, scored the 4th try of the game with a nice dummy and then left foot step and set up a try towards the end of the game where again he threw a nice dummy, showed a bit of speed to break through the line and then drew and pass to set up Rodwell's 3rd try of the game
1. Tom Rodwell, hard not to include him after he scored 4 tries highlighted by one full length of the field try after he had defused a bomb. Showed some surprising speed on that try, not saying he's Dom Young quick but he's more of your stocky, low centre of gravity power based winger so I was surprised he continued to draw away from the Raiders defenders as easily as he did. As usual plenty of involvement in yardage for him as well.
Other Thoughts
- With Young potentially missing the 2nd origin affected game and definitely the 3rd it will be interesting to see if Robbo goes with King in the centres or Rodwell on the wing. Both are standouts at this level but Ethan King just strikes me as a player with a lot of class and good game iq. Not sure how far away Pauga is with his back injury..
- Thought Townsend was great just controlling the game, his width of passing and kicking game were top notch. I think there's still a lot of value to having an experienced player at this level guiding around the young kids and actually letting them play and develop rather than always being on the backfoot as they struggle to compete against men. DCE will do great in this role next year

- Xavier Va'a, all his carries were very strong but unfortunately took what looked like a head knock early in his second stint after he pulled of a great shot close to the line to force a Raiders error.
- Losalu is an absolute beast, would've had 4 or so carries where he just steam rolled the Raiders and made 20+ metres on those carries. He went 30minutes in his first stint too so his endurance seems to be continuing to build.
- Dockar-Clay, Warwick, Roberts, Moriaty all 7/10 performers, good performances with some nice touches.
- DLS Va'a got about 20 minutes, looked strong but started to gas towards the end so obviously still a little off in match fitness
- Lavakeiaho on debut got 10-15 minutes but poor kid came on during the Raiders 10min run so was mainly defending.
I used to live up the road from Wentworth Park. If I still lived in Glebe I'd be going to all these games.
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