Forget the Great Wall of Bondi, now there’s the Great Wall of Allianz Stadium. That’s because the Sydney Roosters not only beat the Bulldogs, they thrashed them in emphatic fashion at Allianz Stadium this evening.
And you guessed it, Sonny Bill Williams was the mastermind for the Roosters as he had the last laugh on the team he turned his back on five years ago.
Security had been beefed up for his first match against the team for which he made his first grade debut for and featured in their premiership team of 2004.
But it was his betrayal of the club for which he is now forever famous for, as he deserted the team suddenly in July 2008 to chase big money at Toulon in France.
As expected, the thousands of Bulldogs supporters who made the trip to Allianz Stadium were there to jeer and boo Sonny Bill Williams all match. He was booed onto the field, and was booed everytime he touched the ball.
But by full-time, they would be kept quiet thanks to a master-class from the man who will now have a big target on his head by the time the teams next meet in Round 15.
And with that match being at the Bulldogs’ home ground, the fans will be out to endure that his first match at ANZ Stadium turns into a nightmare.
Onto the action now and the Roosters scored first after a lovely try-assist from SBW led to Roger Tuivasa-Sheck touching down in the ninth minute. It would be the only try of the first half, as the Roosters would enter half-time leading 8-0.
This meant that, for the fifth first half in a row, the Roosters kept their opposition scoreless.
It seemed that they were starting to rebuild their famous Great Wall of Bondi after it was detonated in the second half in the nation’s capital last week. But there would be no repeat in this second half, as the Roosters would not relent against a desperate Bulldogs outfit.
Sonny Bill Williams would further silence and disappoint the many Bulldogs fans by scoring in the 48th minute, as the floodgates opened in the second half.
Another try to Daniel Mortimer soon had the Roosters 20-0 up with a quarter of the match to go.
But they were not finished yet, as they set about yet another defensive victory at Allianz Stadium.
SBW scored his second try with 17 minutes to go, and by then, the Bulldogs fans who had been there to jeer every move started to disappear from the crowd as they could not bare to watch their team continue to struggle under the Roosters’ onslaught.
Further tries to James Maloney and Michael Jennings saw the Roosters win the match by the final scoreline of 38-0.
Tonight’s result now means that the Roosters have outscored their opposition by 94-0 in their last three matches at Allianz Stadium. Thus, the term “Great Wall of Bondi” should not exist anymore, it should now be called the “Great Wall of Allianz Stadium”.
The Roosters’ defensive structures were back on song once again, as they did not concede a single line break or a point for the third consecutive home match. The visit by the Dragons in the annual ANZAC Day match which follows the representative weekend will be the biggest test as to how far they have come this season.
The Bulldogs, who were very disappointing tonight, were held scoreless for the first time since Round 20, 2008. Ironically, it was the first match which they played since Sonny Bill Williams deserted the club on that July day five years ago.
Even more ironically, it was also the same match in which Ben Barba made his first grade debut.
On that horror Monday night, the Bulldogs lost 30-0 to St. George Illawarra.
As far as this season is concerned, their season record now reads one win against six losses, and their season will resume when they visit Cronulla once the first representative weekend of the season is over.
In tonight’s other match, the Brisbane Broncos defeated the North Queensland Cowboys 12-10 at Suncorp Stadium.
The victory marked the Broncos’ first victory over the Cowboys at Suncorp Stadium since 2010 but they were forced to work hard for it – at one stage, they trailed 10-8 in the second half but a try to Josh Hoffman with eight minutes to go saw the Broncos take out the victory, which is their third for the season and levels their season on three wins and three losses.
As for the Cowboys, who drop to 2-4 for the season after tonight’s defeat, the much needed week off can’t come quite soon enough.
The Broncos, on the other hand, seem to have their season back on track after a slow start but it’s a shame the week off must come at a time when they are starting to regain confidence again.
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