Roar Guru
The Roosters have thumped the Knights 38-0 here at Allianz Stadium, after leading 14-0 at half-time. They looked a different team tonight, now that they are back at full strength.
REPORT: PEARCE RETURNS TO GUIDE ROOSTERS TO WIN
Blake Ferguson had a good night out for the Roosters, being on hand to finish off three of the Roosters’ six tries.
Mitchell Pearce had a strong return from suspension, and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves looked as intimidating as ever off the bench. Skipper Jake Friend led the way for the Roosters, topping the tackle count and coming up with three try assists.
The Knights were disappointing. Missed tackles, ill discipline and largely unimaginative attack cost them dearly. It looks like it will be a long season for them.
Final score
Sydney Roosters 38
Newcastle Knights 0
The Sydney Roosters host the Newcastle Knights at Allianz Stadium in a battle of the cellar dwellers. Join The Roar for live scores and commentary from 5:30pm (AEST).
The Sydney Roosters welcome back big guns Mitchell Pearce (suspension) and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (ACL injury) this week, and will be hoping this will be the turning point in their season. The minor premiers for the past three years have won just one game in the first eight rounds in 2016, and are sitting last on the ladder.
Newcastle haven’t fared much better, currently in second-last place with one win and a draw to show for their efforts. Coach Nathan Brown has made a couple of changes to the Knights’ starting line-up from the team that faced Manly last week.
The major change was forced by a hamstring injury to five-eighth Jarrod Mullen. Will Pearsall will take his place, while Pat Mata’utia replaces his brother Peter in the centres in the other backline change.
Roosters’ coach Trent Robinson is coming off a $40,000 fine from the NRL, after criticising referee Ben Cummins both in the tunnel and at the press conference after last week’s 20-18 loss to St George Illawarra on Anzac Day.
To accommodate the inclusion of Pearce, Robinson has moved Jackson Hastings from halfback to five-eighth and last week’s number six, Ryan Matterson, drops back to join Waerea-Hargreaves on the interchange bench.
The Roosters forward pack has also been reshuffled, with the versatile Mitchell Aubusson moving out to the centres this week in place of Brendan Elliot. Isaac Liu takes Aubusson’s place in the back row.
Both teams will be desperate for the win. The Knights will need to improve their defence to be competitive. They have the worst defensive record of any team in the NRL this season, conceding an average of 31 points a game. The Roosters will test that defence further this week now that they are back at full strength.
Prediction:
With the inclusions of Pearce and Warea-Hargreaves, the Roosters will be too strong for the Knights.
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