The Sydney Roosters showcased their dominance with a commanding 60-18 victory over the St George Illawarra Dragons in the traditional ANZAC Day clash at Allianz Stadium. Led by an exceptional kicking performance from Sam Walker, the Roosters sent a strong message to their premiership rivals with their fifth win in the past seven ANZAC Day encounters against the Dragons.
The Dragons faced a horror start when Moses Suli was forced out of the game in the opening minute after colliding with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves. Despite the setback, the Dragons managed to score the game’s opening try through Tyrell Sloan, who was set up brilliantly by Zac Lomax‘s flick pass, leading to Jaydn Su’a crossing the line.
The Roosters quickly responded with Dom Young capitalising on James Tedesco‘s slick hands to score. Moments later, a mistake by Lomax near his own line saw Michael Jennings setting up Angus Crichton for the Roosters‘ second try. Nat Butcher and Joseph Manu extended the lead, with Walker’s conversions putting the Roosters 18-6 ahead.
Walker’s exceptional kicking game continued to trouble the Dragons, resulting in a penalty try after a professional foul from Fa’amanu Brown. Butcher added another try before the end of the half, bringing the Roosters‘ tally to five tries in just 25 minutes.
Despite trailing 30-6 at halftime, the Dragons began the second half strong with a try from Jack De Belin. However, the Roosters quickly reasserted their dominance with Luke Keary and Manu adding more tries to their tally.
Tedesco joined the scoring spree with a try of his own, followed by Tom Eisenhuth scoring for the Dragons. Walker’s brilliance was on display again as he set up another try for Butcher before Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii added the final try, capping off a remarkable ANZAC Day display in front of a crowd of 40,727 supporters.