Player ratings for the Sydney Roosters team for the NRL preliminary final against the Storm.
1. James Tedesco: Constantly probed for an opening, made plenty of metres (205) and was eventually rewarded when he forced his way over after Cooper Cronk's excellent lead-up work. 9/10
2. Daniel Tupou: Brilliant take and unbelievable offload to create Boyd Cordner's opening try. Sterling defence, safe as houses under the high ball and made plenty of metres in attack (121). 7.5
3. Latrell Mitchell: Brilliant defensive take of a bomb in the first half. Struggled to get involved overall but pulled off a couple of big hits in defence. 6.5
4. Joseph Manu: Aggressive defence kept the Storm left edge in check. Quality work with the ball and denied a try by a fingertip. 7
5. Brett Morris: Also got through plenty of work in defence and repeatedly made good metres with the ball. 7
Tedesco scores after Cronk makes a break
6. Luke Keary: Came into the game under an injury cloud and while he kept turning the Storm back with his kicking he wasn't as prominent in attack as usual. Also showed Felise Kaufusi he wouldn't take a backward step. 7
7. Cooper Cronk: Did his best work in defence, repeatedly pulling of key tackles before setting up James Tedesco's try by challenging the line and putting Angus Crichton through a hole then backing up to take the ball deep into Storm territory. 8
8. Isaac Liu: Ran hard to ton-up with the ball (102 metres) and defended well. 7
Fiery start at the SCG leads to two in the sin-bin
9. Sam Verrills: Got through a mountain of defence to top the Roosters tackle count (44) and a pair of safe hands at dummy-half. He's making it a very tough decision for the coach if Jake Friend is available for the grand final. 7.5
10. Siosiua Taukeiaho: Output reduced by sin-binning in the first minute but made up for his early absence, running for 106 metres in 41 minutes. 7
11. Boyd Cordner: Outstanding captain's knock. Scored opening try, went within centimetres of a second and a constant threat running the ball to while piling up the metres. 9
12. Mitchell Aubusson: Got through plenty of defensive work and had plenty of impact with the ball. Kept Cameron Munster in check before failing his HIA after collecting Kenny Bromwich's hip. 8
13. Victor Radley: Played his part in a disciplined Roosters defence that kept the Storm scoreless for 50 minutes. 7
Cordner gets an offload from Tupou
Interchange
14. Angus Crichton: Focused on defence in his opening 10-minute stint before turning it on with the ball in the second half. Big bust early in the second half sparked the Roosters then another line break set up Tedesco's try. 8
15. Zane Tetevano: Solid performance off the bench. 6
16. Nat Butcher: Made plenty of metres in his 38-minute stint and defended enthusiastically. 6
17. Lindsay Collins: Didn't appear in the opening 40 but got through plenty of work when he finally got his chance. 5.5
Melbourne Storm preliminary final player ratings
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARLC, NRL clubs or state associations.
