Tedesco terrific as Roosters run riot and Knights lose Ponga

The loss of star fullback Kalyn Ponga to a head injury added to a miserable night at the office for Newcastle, as Roosters skipper James Tedesco led his side to to a 42-12 victory which keeps them right in the thick of the battle for the top eight. 

Tedesco was at the centre of everything, directly setting up tries for Joseph Suaalii and Daniel Tupou and scoring one of his own, along with making three line breaks and running for 304 metres. 

After kicking his side to an early 2-0 lead, Ponga left the field on eight minutes and didn't return, with the Roosters going on to score the next 42 points before Phoenix Crossland and Edrick Lee got over for a late consolation tries.  

Returning playmaker Luke Keary opened the scoring before Tedesco and Suaalii added extras for a 16-2 lead at the break.

Already up 26-2 midway through the second half, the Roosters then went on to take full advantage of Dane Gagai's trip to the sin bin, piling on further tries through Tupou and Angus Crichton, before Egan Butcher got over for a four-pointer off the bench. 

Match Snapshot

• Newcastle fullback Kalyn Ponga left the field eight minutes into the match after receiving a high shot from Roosters prop Matthew Lodge and didn't return after failing his HIA.
• James Tedesco had 10 tackle breaks, three line breaks and a pair of try assists across 75 minutes on the park, along with 304 run metres. 
• Dane Gagai was sent to the bin for verbal dissent midway through the second half and the Roosters scored three tries during that period. 
• Playmaker Luke Keary was a big contributor in his first game since round 14, scoring the opening try and running for 126 metres.
• Roosters wingers Daniel Tupou and Joseph Suaalii each scored a double.
• The Roosters have now won five of their past six games at McDonald Jones Stadium, while the Knights have lost seven of their past eight at the venue.
• The Knights also lost second-rower Lachlan Fitzgibbon to a shoulder injury in the defeat.
• Egan Butcher was huge off the bench for the Tricolours, running for 121 metres and scoring their last try. 

Play of the Game

Minutes after his captain set him up with a try, teenage sensation Joseph Suaalii returned the favour. After beating Edrick Lee to a Sam Walker kick, the winger fended off a would-be tackle from Phoenix Crossland and then calmly offloaded to Tedesco who did the rest. 

What They Said

"The last 10 minutes we let the shackles off a little bit and played a little bit of footy, which we'd planned to do. We have got a lot of work to do to fix where we are at as a group, it's going to take a lot of work, it's going to take a lot of time unfortunately." - Knights coach Adam O'Brien

"I feel like we have been building towards that over the last couple of months. It's not real complicated, we are just ready to play our style of footy a little bit more. I feel like we defended really well for 70 minutes there, which has been an improvement."  - Roosters coach Trent Robinson

What's Next

The Roosters travel to take on Manly in the opening game of round 20 on Thursday night. They should have the services of centre Joseph Manu again after he sat out the Newcastle match with a quad complaint. 

With question marks over Ponga and the likes of winger Dominic Young (ribs), Newcastle will be pleased to have a long turnaround before facing the Bulldogs next Sunday.