Sydney Roosters 38
Canterbury Bulldogs 28
In Mitchell Pearce’s 200th first grade game, the Roosters started strong early, scoring four tries in the opening 25 minutes through Daniel Tupou (2), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Michael Jennings.
The Bulldogs soon hit back, with a try to Shaun Lane bringing them into the game. Josh Morris and Corey Thompson soon followed to bring the game to 22-16 at half-time.
Brendan Elliot was denied of a try early in the second half, the Bulldogs levelled the scores through Trent Hodkinson going through the line on his own.
Corey Thompson scored his second try to put the Bulldogs in the lead for the first time in the match, Blake Ferguson closed the gap to bring the margin to within two points off the back of an impressive run from Jared Waerea-Hargeaves.
Michael Jennings scored with five minutes remaining, Mitchell Pearce denied three minutes later. The result was put beyond doubt as Jackson Hastings scored on the full-time siren to give the Roosters another win.
Mitchell Pearce is set to become the youngest ever player to notch up 200 games when the Sydney Roosters clash with the Canterbury Bulldogs at Allianz Stadium. Join The Roar from 7:30pm (AEST) for live scores and coverage.
This game will be won in the halves. If the Bulldogs pairing of Moses Mbye and Trent Hodkinson can step up and improve on their kicking and passing games, Des Hasler’s men will win easily.
James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce also have a point to prove, and if they can emulate their best form, the Roosters will edge closer to their third consecutive minor premiership.
In the only change for the Bulldogs, Mbye replaces Josh Reynolds due to suspension.
Corey Thompson and Danny Fualalo join an extended bench, while Frank Pritchard has been named despite suffering a rib injury in last week’s loss to the Sharks.
Meanwhile, Kane Evans, Matt McIlwrick and Suaia Matagi join an extended seven-man bench for the Roosters.
The Roosters and Bulldogs have played each other 33 times since 1998, with the Bulldogs winning 19 matches, the Roosters 14.
Last time the two teams met the Roosters defeated the Bulldogs 24-10 in Round 10 of the 2015 season.
The Roosters are coming off of a 33-8 win over the Wests Tigers, the Bulldogs were defeated by the Sharks last week 16-18.
Prediction
After a poor performance against the Sharks, the Bulldogs will struggle to beat the high-flying Roosters.
Roosters by 10.
Join The Roar from 7.30pm (AEST) for score updates and debate in our live blog.
Muzz
Guest
The officials made a number of mistakes that effected both teams at different times of the game. Dogs won the penalty count 7 - 2 It was a stressful but fun game to watch. Dogs are a better team without Reynolds imo.
eagleJack
Roar Guru
The video ref can't rule on an incident in general play, that has been called play on with the game continuing past that point. If the Roosters had scored then it would have been adjudicated on and ruled no try. I believe that will change with the introduction of the "war room". At present they seem to only rule on incidents that were incorrect at that very point in time eg which team knocked the ball dead (although why they never ruled on Jennings kicking the ball out in the 2013 GF after the Roosters were incorrectly given the scrum feed, I will never know :) )
Emcie
Roar Guru
Dunno mate, the only thing I can think of is that the video ref didn't see it. The replays put up on the screen aren't necessarily what the video ref is looking at (unless it's been specifically sent up for review) and the on field ref's are fairly busy on the field. I'm hoping that's all it was and not some weird process. Any processes that get in the way of the correct decision being made aren't helping the game
The Barry
Roar Guru
Mate - these are general questions not aimed at you but if the video ref didn't alert the on field - why not? The replay was shown before the dropout taken - same as the Tupou / Perrett incident in the first half. That ended up being a pretty big turning point in the game. Dogs had all the momentum up to that point and none afterwards. Instead of getting the ball the dogs had to defend two pretty intense back to back sets. It took a lot out of them at that stage of the game. Their line speed Was shot afterwards and the roosters got on a massive roll. Not saying that's the reason for the loss at all. But it was a turning point that was clearly incorrect and the video ref had time to correct it. If there's a rule that they can't go back more than 30 seconds or something fine...but I don't know the rule.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Seems strange to me that Lane went off and the Bulldogs seemed to fall apart after that.. maybe it mucked with the interchange. Tolman is badly missed in the middle of the park too. Well deserved win for the Chooks.
up in the north
Roar Rookie
So what is this "thing" that sides have adopted where they think they'll put the 80 minutes into blocks of three chunks of twenty minutes each. Three doesn't go into eight. But it works. But what happens to the other twenty minutes
Benny
Guest
That's what people have been saying for the past few months but theyve still won 7 in a row and 10 of their past 11. They are not a side that needs to play for 80 mins. Definitely need to play better than tonight but still got the job done. Definitely premiership favourites IMO. They will also step it up big time when it comes to playing cowboys or broncos
up in the north
Roar Rookie
Good job. Great game or what?
Emcie
Roar Guru
Depends whether the video ref alerted them to it I guess, they can't go off the big screen
up in the north
Roar Rookie
WOW What a game. Are the top sides now using a tactic of playing for periods with a focus on either offence and -pause- defence. ? It seems like these days there's a bit of a trend with the better sides shifting their focus from one to the other. Probably just me
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME That's all for tonight folks. Thanks for tuning in. I'll be back for Rabbitohs vs Panthers on Sunday from 3.50pm. Brent Ford and Vas Venkatramani are currently live calling Hawthorn vs Richmond and The Ashes respectively. Sydney Roosters 38 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28
The Barry
Roar Guru
Haha...that's what I thought but I was hoping for a better explanation than that...
Emcie
Roar Guru
Too hard basket?
The Barry
Roar Guru
Does anyone know why the refs were unable to reverse the call when Elliott put his foot in touch? It was the same play, the ball hadn't gone out of play or a tackle made. The commentators said they couldn't go back that far but that doesn't seem right. It was a fair length of time but the ball was in play the whole time. If the Roosters had scored would they go back that far for the video ref?
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
My favourite one is "I've got a feeling about..." Classic.
Emcie
Roar Guru
Roosters gonna have to pick up their game if the want a shot at the title
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
Full-Time In Mitchell Pearce's 200th first grade game, the Roosters started strong early, scoring four tries in the opening 25 minutes through Daniel Tupou (2), Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Michael Jennings. The Bulldogs soon hit back, with a try to Shaun Lane bringing them into the game. Josh Morris and Corey Thompson soon followed to bring the game to 22-16 at half-time. Brandon Elliot was denied of a try early in the second half, the Bulldogs levelled the scores through Trent Hodkinson going through the line on his own. Corey Thompson scored his second try to put the Bulldogs in the lead for the first time in the match, Blake Ferguson closed the gap to bring the margin to within two points off the back of an impressive run from Jared Waerea-Hargeaves. Michael Jennings scored with five minutes remaining, Mitchell Pearce denied three minutes later. The result was put beyond doubt as Jackson Hastings scored on the full-time siren to give the Roosters another win. Sydney Roosters 38 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28 MAN OF THE MATCH: JARED WAEREA-HARGEAVES
Sleiman Azizi
Roar Guru
lol Hard luck guvna. They almost had it too. Now if only Glebe could show some and fight their way back all would be well.
The Barry
Roar Guru
Lucky the defibrillator was on hand!
Riley Pettigrew
Roar Guru
FULL-TIME The Roosters come away with a 10-point win. Full wrap to come. Sydney Roosters 38 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 28