ROOSTERS 42, SHARKS 16
Who needs Daly Cherry-Evans?
Arguably not the Sydney Roosters, judging by the impressive performance from rookie halfback Hugo Savala in their 42-16 win against Cronulla in Gosford on Saturday night.
Appearing in only his ninth NRL game, the 23-year-old created the first two tries of the game with pinpoint cross-field kicks that veteran winger Daniel Tupou caught cleanly to score.
Savala then backed up a break by winger Dominic Young and was on hand to receive the ball from skipper James Tedesco before racing away to post the Roosters’ third try.
Savala has featured in all five of the Roosters’ wins this season, and his combination with five-eighth Sandon Smith - who kicked seven goals from eight attempts - appears to be improving each week.
Meanwhile, waiting impatiently in the background for a medical clearance to return from a knee reconstruction is Sam Walker, widely regarded as the best young playmaker in the NRL.
So why the need for DCE, who revealed last week that he had narrowed his search for a new club down to the Roosters and Dolphins, having announced in March that he would be leaving Manly at season’s end?
Presumably the Roosters believe the 36-year-old Queensland Origin captain can have a similar impact to Cooper Cronk, who helped them win back-to-back titles in 2018-19.
“Look, I’ve been really clear with my intentions and I also don’t think it’s the right time to talk about that ... I think it’s right to celebrate the team and the players,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said after the game.
Robinson was more interested in saluting a makeshift team who got the job done emphatically in the absence of Origin stars Angus Crichton, Lindsay Collins and Robert Toia.
“It’s good to see guys that have come through the grades, get the rewards and they bring the older guys energy,” Robinson said.
“I know how these guys felt this week. They’re looking around and they’re giving belief to those guys and they’re getting energy back from them just trying so hard. So yeah, very pleasing.”
Savala appears in no hurry to hand over the No.7 jersey. He’s taken a liking to it.
In the fourth minute, he weighted his kick to the left-hand corner to perfection, and aerial specialist Tupou gratefully latched on for the 168th try of his NRL career.
Seven minutes later, spectators were left with a sense of deja vu as Savala again launched the ball towards the left edge and Tupou again plucked it from the air to score.
The Sharks narrowed the deficit to 14-6 when skipper Cameron McInnes crashed over between the posts, but 10 minutes later, the Roosters were in again, after Savala finished off slick lead-up work from Young and Tedesco.
The result lifted the Roosters from 13th on the ladder to 11th. Cronulla stay in fifth spot.
For the Sharks, it was a reality check. They had won their past three games, and five of their previous six.
“Back to earth with a thud,” Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon admitted.
“They were terrific, and the energy they started with caught us on the hop.
“They turned field position into points and we couldn’t make that back up, and didn’t look like making it up, to be fair.
“They outenthused us the whole night.”
Adding to Cronulla’s woes, winger Ronaldo Mulitalo was sin-binned and placed on report in the 26th minute for a late tackle on Roosters centre Mark Nawaqanitawase, which is likely to attract the attention of the match-review committee.
Nawaqanitawase produced the perfect response 12 minutes into the second half, when he was on hand to score after Mulitalo spilled a bomb.
Debutant forward Xavier Va’a was next to score for the Roosters, diving over after his second touch of the ball in the NRL, after a smart pass from Victor Radley.
Tries by KL Iro (60th minute) and Mulitalo (69th minute) narrowed Cronulla’s deficit.
The biggest cheer of the night came three minutes from full-time when the tireless Tedesco backed up to score. Young, recalled after a stint in reserve grade, also crossed in the final minute to cap a successful comeback.