Roosters too good for junior Sharks
It was a disappointing day for the junior Sharks with both the SG Ball and Matthews Cup teams suffering heavy defeats to the Sydney Roosters in round three matches.
In round three matches played at Henson Park on Saturday, the Matthews Cup Sharks squandered an early 18-0 lead in going down by 36-18, while in the SG Ball game to follow, the Cronulla side was never really in the contest, the Roosters running out 54-12 winners.
The under-17 Matthews Sharks started their match in the perfect fashion, three tries in the opening 15 minutes seeing them open up an 18-0 advantage, however from there it was all the Roosters, highlighted by a starring performance from five eighth Lachlan Dooner who crossed for four tries.
After such a fast first 15 minutes of the match, coach Brad Kelly reasoned with his team seeing very little ball, partly from poor handling and discipline, combined with strong play from their opponents, and they had no answer for the Roosters second half onslaught.
“It was a great start, three tries really quickly and playing really well, but as happens in games the momentum swings, possession changes and it started going back the other way to the Roosters and we just couldn’t hold on,” Kelly explained.
“In the second half we didn’t do ourselves any favours, errors which were pretty basic gave possession back to them and when you haven’t got the footy its very hard to win a game.
“After we scored out last point, it was 70 per cent possession to them. We had to wait 10-12 minutes in the second half to get tackled in their half at least once, we were constantly under the pump.
“Congratulations to them, but we’ve got to move onto to next week now and get better,” Kelly added.
Following two wins to start their season, tries in the fifth minute to five eighth Blake Wardrobe, backing up an Alex Challenor line break, a second to Nikora Williams, the centre showing good strength close to the line, then Oliver Lester on the end of a clever backline movement and it appeared the Sharks would continue on their winning ways.
A dummy half try to Roosters then bridged the gap, before Dooner won the race to his own grubber kick in sending the teams to the break with the Sharks up 18-12.
The Roosters would then score twice in the opening five minutes of the second half and in the oppressive heat the Sharks couldn’t stem the tide.
Unfortunately for the Sharks, the Roosters SG Ball team would take up where their Matthews Cup counterparts left off in the match to follow, two early tries seeing them jump out to a 10-0 lead.
The Sharks responded when big front rower Felix Faatili crashed over, before the Roosters extended their lead to 20-6 with two more tries, before right winger Jett Forbes finished off a backline movement to score wide out for the Cronulla team.
Five eighth Dylan Christiansen converted from touch to make it 20-12 at the break, giving them Sharks some hope of a second half revival.
Whatever optimism the Sharks may have had however regarding a second half comeback was quickly snuffed out, with the Roosters dominating possession, field position and the scoreboard, the tries racked up and the score mounted.
In the final washup it was a 10 tries to two thumping with the Sharks now having plenty of work to do ahead of their round four match against the Melbourne Storm, with the Matthews Sharks to play the Central Coast Roosters. Both matches will be played at PointsBet Stadium.
MATTHEWS CUP
SHARKS 18
Blake WARDROBE, Nikora WILLIAMS, Oliver LESTER tries, Williams 3 goals
Lost to
ROOSTERS 36
SG BALL
SHARKS 12
Felix Faatili, Jett Forbes tries, Dylan Christiansen 2 goals
lost to
ROOSTERS 54
