- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
The Sydney Roosters have recorded an important victory on Saturday night, turning a ten-point halftime deficit into a narrow six-point victory.
Final score
Sydney Roosters 22
North Queensland Cowboys 16
It’s a battle with enormous finals implications between two sides battling for a spot in the top four when the Sydney Roosters host the North Queensland Cowboys. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:30pm (AEST).
On Friday night, the Eels made it five straight wins with an upset win over the third-placed Broncos in Sydney. There is a level of deja vu in this one – the lower placed Cowboys are looking to win their fifth straight and they’re outsiders according to the bookies. Similarly, they’re travelling south.
This fixture looks set to be hugely entertaining, with both sides running into the fixture on the back of strong recent form, and finals positions to play for.
In team news, the Roosters have two big blows in the loss of both Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend to ill-timed injuries.
Needless to say, Trent Robinson’s troops will have a tough time emulating the heroic carries of the Blues skipper up the middle, and players like Jared Warea-Hargreaves and Dylan Napa will have to stamp their authority early in the match to take it to the Cowboys forward pack which is humming with energy at the moment.
In other team news for the tri-colours, Victor Radley will step in at hooker while Joseph Manu returns to partner Latrell Mitchell in the centres.
On the flip side, the Cowboys all of a sudden look settled and full of confidence. They got over the loss of Johnatha Thurston remarkably quickly, and have been one of the form sides of the competition in the last month.
Michael Morgan, Jake Granville and Te Maire Martin have been immense, while Kyle Feldt, Justin O’Neill and Lachlan Coote are genuine finishers.
They welcome back Antonio Winterstein for tonight’s clash, and Braden Uele is set to debut off the bench.
Where the game will be won
I could almost copy and paste my prediction from last night’s match between the Eels and Broncos here, but the answer for me lies in the backs.
Cordner is a big loss for the Roosters, but I expect Warea-Hargreaves, Napa and co. to bring it to the Cowboys forwards. In the backs however, I think the tri-colours just shade the Cowboys for genuine pace and finishing power.
The Mitchell Pearce vs Michael Morgan battle will be enticing, and it’s whoever of these two men who can best link up with their outside backs who should get the job done for their side. Tupou, Watson and Blake Ferguson will have big games if Mitchell Pearce plays well.
Prediction
A cracking match, and the lead will change a few times. I think the Roosters will just shade the Cowboys tonight though, expect a try-fest!
Roosters by 4.
Join The Roar for live scores and a blog of the match, starting from 7:30pm (AEST).
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.