5 hours Ago
The Roosters bounced back from a horror performance against the Panthers to book a prelim against the Storm with a convincing 40-16 victory over Manly. James Tedesco was at his brilliant best in a man-of-the-match display, while Sandon Smith proved the doubters wrong in a stunning night out. Haumole Olakau’atu produced a lone hand for Manly, with skipper Daly Cherry-Evans, Luke Brooks and Tom Trbojevic having mixed nights at the office.
Here are all the player ratings from both the Roosters and the Sea Eagles. Watch the best coverage of the 2024 NRL finals, with expert analysis and every game until the Grand Final LIVE with no ad-breaks during play, on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial today > ROOSTERS 1.
James Tedesco - 9 The best player on the field in his milestone 250th match, with over 100 metres, three linebreak assists, two try assists and two tries to lead his side to another preliminary final. 2. Daniel Tupou - 8 Bounced back from a tough night out in the qualifying final and showed all his experience and class with over 100 metres, a try assist and an excellent finish for a try in the corner.
3. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii - 8 Came up with some silky footwork to bamboozle the Sea Eagles defence for Smith’s try and solid from the kicking tee with seven goals from as many attempts in a perfect night at the office. 4.
Joseph Manu - 8 Not as many highlight reels as we have come to expect but solid in attack and defence all night and finished with six tackle busts in a typically busy display on the edge. Set up a late try for Dominic Young with a freak catch and one handed offload. 5.
Dominic Young - 7 Bounced back from a quiet qualifying final and looked threatening every time he touched the ball. Capped a solid outing with the final try of the night. 6.
Luke Keary - 7 Didn't overplay his hand and made sure he got plenty of good early ball to his danger men outside. Keary was solid in defence after a tough night against the Panthers in that department and finished with a try assist. 7.
Sandon Smith - 8 Bounced back from a tough night out against the Panthers with an assured performance highlighted by a superb dummy and go to score a silky individual try. Finished with 83 run metres, five tackle busts and a try and his kicking game was much improved. 8.
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves - 7 You wouldn’t have known it was his second game in 11 weeks as the old pro returned to set the tone from the start with some charging runs and bone rattling defence. Finished with 100 metres and 19 tackles to prolong his NRL career another week at least. 9.
Connor Watson - 8 Challenged the Manly line with his running game to finish with 89 run metres and opened up the field for his outside men. Matched his slick service with a near perfect game in defence and a try assist to boot. 10.
Lindsay Collins - 6 Didn’t make a huge impact with his running game, but was solid as ever in defence to set the tone from the first whistle. 11. Angus Crichton - 8 Asked plenty of questions of the Manly defence with some well timed offloads and busy as ever in both attack and defence.
12. Sitili Tupouniua - 6 Struggled to get into the game in attack and made two poor errors, but made up for it with a sterling defensive performance on the edge. 22.
Victor Radley - 7 Huge effort to even be on the field after returning from a fractured scapula, but you couldn’t even tell he was carrying an injury. Capped a solid performance on both sides of the ball with the first try of the night to show he meant business and was put on ice for the second half. BENCH 13.
Naufahu Whyte - 6 Didn’t get on in the first half after being switched to the bench to accommodate Radley’s return, but was perfect defensively when he came on. 15. Spencer Leniu - 7 Made an impact off the bench with some powerful runs and was near perfect in defence to maintain the rage after Warea-Hargreaves came off.
16. Nat Butcher - 7 Quiet in attack early but grew into the game and held the line together with his defence as he does every week. 17.
Terrell May - 8 Plenty of impact off the pine to run for over 100 metres and challenged the Manly defence with some skilful offloads to go with some superb defensive display. SEA EAGLES 1. Tom Trbojevic - 7 Clearly battled injuries in the finals, but was again brave on both sides of the ball.
However he was guilty of some poor errors and missed tackles that he wouldn’t make at peak fitness. 2. Tommy Talau - 7 Capped an excellent debut season with Manly with another strong display and added to his impressive try tally with a freakish put down.
3. Tolutau Koula - N/A Knocked out with the first play off the game and was rule out for the rest of the match. 4.
Reuben Garrick - 5 Made some solid carries on the edge, but gave away two penalties to go with an error and four missed tackles in not his best night at the office. 5. Lehi Hopoate - 7 Again played with maturity beyond his years and was one of the few Manly players to bring up 100 metres.
6. Luke Brooks - 6 Brooks had a stellar first season at Manly and he was again busy with his running game and tried hard all night, but was guilty of some poor lapses in defence and kicked out on the full late in the second half. 7.
Daly Cherry-Evans - 7 Guilty of some poor reads in defence, but produced a superb chip for Manly’s first try to Olakau’atu and also set up their second for Talau with a pinpoint kick. 8. Taniela Paseka - 6 Struggled to make an impact with his running game, but was solid as ever in defence.
9. Lachlan Croker - 5 Only made one run all game and was forced top do a lot of work defensively, missing seven tackles before coming off late with an injury. 10.
Matthew Lodge - 5 Failed to live up to the hype against his old club with some glaring defensive lapses and struggled to get his running game going in a beaten pack. 11. Haumole Olakau’atu - 8 Pounced on a fortuitous bounce for Manly’s first try and was Manly’s best player on the field with some bruising defence matched by some devastating runs.
Perfect defensively from start to finish. 12. Karl Lawton - 5 Solid defensively, but was guilty of two poor errors and gave away a penalty in a tough night on the edge before shifting to hooker late in the game.
13. Jake Trbojevic - 6 The Manly captain copped a head knock early and while he passed his HIA and returned he wasn’t at his best despite a tireless display in defence as always. BENCH 14.
Ben Trbojevic - 6 Made an impact when he came on in attack and was rewarded with a late try after replacing the injured Koula in the centres, but like most of the Manly players was guilty of some poor misses in defence. 15. Josh Aloiai - 7 Made an impact in minimal charges with the ball, while he was strong defensively with no missed tackles.
16. Ethan Bullemor - 6 Struggled to make an impact in attack, but was solid defensively with 12 tackles without a miss. 17.
Nathan Brown - 6 Promised fireworks off the bench, but couldn’t get Manly going in attack, despite doing plenty of work in defence..
