Player ratings for the Sydney Roosters team in their Telstra Premiership semi-final clash with the Manly Sea Eagles at BB Print Stadium, Mackay.
1. James Tedesco: Emptied his full bag of tricks, constantly probing, and was rewarded with his side's sole try with a cut-out ball to Matt Ikuvalu. A couple of uncharacteristic errors including a bomb that gave Manly a seven-tackle set which they turned into another six points. Finished with 142 metres and the try assist. 6/10
2. Daniel Tupou: Safe under the high ball and made one good return in the first half but otherwise relatively well held. Lifted his game after the break and ran for a game-high 220m. 6
3. Josh Morris: Tried hard in his final NRL game. A nice catch of a high ball negated by knocking on under pressure in the Manly 20m in the first half but he finished with 100-plus metres. 6
4. Adam Keighran: Tough first half that saw him knock on twice and miss Tom Trbojevic for the fullback's try. Another drop led to Jason Saab's runaway try to ice Manly's victory. 4
Josh Morris given guard of honour after final NRL game
5. Matt Ikuvalu: Put on report for a late hit on Tom Trbojevic but evened the ledger by scoring the Roosters' much-needed try. Finished with 139 metres. 5
6. Lachlan Lam: One scoot out of dummy-half but otherwise hardly seen in attack. Defended stoutly with 26 tackles but missed four. 4.5
7. Drew Hutchinson: Failed to put any real pressure on the Sea Eagles back three with his kicking game. Drained by a heavy defensive load (26 tackles). 4.5
Tedesco the creator for Ikuvalu
8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves: Led from the front as the Roosters battled to stay in the game, running for 157 metres from 16 tough carries. 7
20. Ben Marschke: Whole-hearted in defence, cutting Josh Aloiai in half in the shadow of his posts. Finished with 36 tackles which was second for the Roosters. 6
10. Isaac Liu: Modest contribution in the opening 40 but lifted his game in the second to finish with 90m. Finished with a late drop. 5.5
11. Angus Crichton: Worked hard in both attack and defence but a poor offload opened the door for Turbo's second try early in the second half. 5
12. Sitili Tupouniua: No joy with the ball in hand, running for a paltry 31m from six runs, but solid in defence. 5
13. Victor Radley: Fought bravely in a losing cause. In the thick of the action whether as a link man, running the ball hard or launching himself at the Manly ball-runners. Tackled himself to a standstill for a game-high 56 tackles and amassed 116m with ball in hand. 7.5
Reserves
14. Sam Walker: Thrown into the game just before half-time, he quickly turned the ball over with an off-target long ball. Turbo ran over the top of him in midfield early in the second half. Forced back-to-back repeat sets late in the game but it was too little, too late. 5
15. Nat Butcher: Provided spark off the bench with his hard running and willing defence. Racked up 75m from eight carries and didn't shirk his responsibilities in defence. 6
16. Egan Butcher: Minimal impact in attack but put in a good shift in defence. Put his side under pressure by conceding a penalty with a flop. 4
17. Fletcher Baker: Didn't get on until the second half but threw himself into the action with four runs for 35 metres and 10 tackles in his 13 minutes. 3
The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of the NRL, ARLC, NRL clubs or state associations.
