Roosters pip Dogs to go level with Penrith at top

By George Clarke

Sydney Roosters have edged past Canterbury in a 20-18 win that has blown the race for the NRL’s minor premiership wide open.

On a pivotal night in the make-up of the top four, the Roosters moved up to second with a late win at Allianz Stadium that puts Trent Robinson’s men level on 36 points with ladder-leading Penrith, who lost to the Warriors earlier in the day.

The Panthers, who sit first as a result of their superior for and against, host the Roosters next Thursday and look set to be without captain Isaah Yeo.

Even without facing Yeo, the Roosters will have to turn things up a notch against the Panthers as the race for the minor premiership looks set to go to the wire.

Robinson’s side led 8-2 at halftime on Friday but were stunned when a try from Lachlan Galvin and a Jacob Kiraz double in a 12-minute second-half spell catapulted the Bulldogs into an unlikely lead.

But a miscommunication at the back by Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey allowed Salesi Foketi to dive on a loose kick and claim the match-winning try in the 69th minute.

“I think the ability to win in different situations is really key and we’ve probably had more than we would have liked in this scenario,” Robinson said.

“I thought to start the game like we did tonight after last week (beating North Queensland 82-12) showed how hungry we are.

“But if you take away the result, and if I talk about just the footy that we want to play, we can play better and I want to play better than what we did tonight.”

The victory gave the Roosters a seventh-straight win but also puts a major dent in Canterbury’s top-eight aspirations after they threatened to upset the home side.

Stephen Crichton kicked a penalty to get the Bulldogs on the board after sixth minutes before Sam Walker and Hugo Savala combined down the left to send Billy Smith in at the corner.

Then after Matt Burton failed to gather a Daly Cherry-Evans bomb, Siua Wong touched down for the Roosters after Walker failed to convert both kicks.

“I thought, considering how poorly we played in the first half, it was a pretty good sign that it was only 8-2,” said Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo.

The Bulldogs had struggled for spark in the first half but they came back after halftime with a bang as hooker Bailey Hayward burst up the middle of the field and found a supporting Kiraz.

The Canterbury winger scored under the posts as Crichton converted to tie the game up.

Galvin then put the Bulldogs ahead for the first time when the five-eighth drifted across field and darted through a Reece Robson tackle to score and then set up Kiraz.

But Canterbury couldn’t land the killer blow and it came back to bite them.

Smith added a second with 15 minutes left before Foketi was in the right place at the right time, touching down a Walker bomb that Tracey failed to take to score the decisive try.

Adding to Canterbury’s concerns was the fact second-rower Sitili Tupouniua re-aggravated a hamstring issue.

“We’re not leaving here with any less confidence than what we came here with,” Ciraldo said.