Round 25, 2023: Sydney Roosters 34 Parramatta 12

Roosters lose Tedesco, but keep finals hopes alive against Eels

The Roosters overcame the loss of two of their leaders as they outscored the Eels 34-12 to keep their finals hopes alive.

Prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was a late withdrawal before the match due to acute neck pain, but in big news, captain James Tedesco left the game mid-way though the second half for an HIA, with the head knock later deemed to be Category 1 by the independent doctor, which would rule him out for next week's match against the Tigers.

Going into tonight's game, there was all to play for with both teams needing to win to keep their finals flame flickering.

The Eels were always going to do it tough without their chief playmaker Mitchell Moses, who suffered a facial fracture last week and it showed, despite them looking up for the contest early, displaying the type of intent expected of a game of this importance.

Parramatta even scored the first try of the match to the delight of the home crowd at CommBank Stadium when a fully outstretched Bryce Cartwright reached out and was able to touch the ball down on the line to garner a green light from the Bunker.

The Roosters however were able to soak up more pressure before returning fire, going bang, bang, bang with three unanswered tries to close out the first half.

They got their first try thanks to skipper James Tedesco following a scrum, with the Eels defenders falling for his dummy and falling off their attempts to tackle him as he ran through the score.

They went back-to-back, again following a scrum play, but this time by going to the other corner, with Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii finding space down the right side.

The third try came by exploiting Parramatta's left-side defence once more, with Joey Manu galloping down field, producing an offload back on the inside to Tedesco who was trailing up the middle, who then ran over for his second of the match and the third try of the half for the visitors.

The second half saw the Roosters open the scoring with Tedesco again involved, setting up Suaalii to do over for his second.

Eels skipper Clint Gutherson provided a brief moment of hope when he was able to run in for a second half try, with his conversion narrowing the margin to 10 points.

But that hope was short-lived, with Siua Wong and Nat Butcher adding to the scoreboard extend the lead for their side.

Prior to this win, the Roosters' season looked to be on a knife's edge after suffering a heavy loss to the Broncos, but they have since won three games in a row and are showing good attacking form.

Match Snapshot
Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves a late withdrawal before the match after being ruled out due to acute neck pain, replaced in the starting side by Fletcher Baker.
The Eels scored first through Cartwright, but were denied going back-to-back when Will Penisini thought he had scored, thanks to some desperation defence from Roosters props from Baker and Lindsay Collins, who has enjoyed a resurgence of form since featuring in Origin.
Eels forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard made a noteworthy return following his time on the sideline due to a suspension, including a mixed start to the game with an error and a poorly judged Captain's Challenge and some charging runs which saw him held up over the line. Overall, he ran for 199 metres.
Rooster captain James Tedesco was ruled out of the match in the 62nd minute after suffering a head knock. Tedesco was hit high by Maika Sivo as he fell to the ground, with the Eels winger placed on report.
Suaalii opened the scoring in the second half to pick up a double, thanks to a wonderful pass from his captain Tedesco.
Clint Gutherson clawed one back for his side after Bailey Simonsson collected a pass that rebounded off his head off and passed inside to his skipper who ran in to score. He converted the try to bring the margin down to 10 points.
Prior to this game, the Eels had won seven of their past eight games at CommBank Stadium.
The Roosters have now won eight of their past 10 games against the Eels and have now also won seven from nine games at CommBank Stadium.

Play of the Game
James Tedesco scored a first-half double, with his second try coming from a great set up on the right side by Joey Manu who produced a powerful run and clever offload back inside to his skipper, clinching the third try of the half for the Roosters.

What They Said
"I thought they tried hard, started well. There's a few things that went against us and it snowballed ... We fought hard, I thought we fought hard all year; we're just not getting it right.

"I'm disappointed for everyone involved with the club (to be missing finals), I am disappointed for the players, I am disappointed for our players and fans, but the boys, they tried really hard this year, we had plenty of fight, we just weren't up to it." - Parramatta Eels coach Brad Arthur

"Disappointed. Put so much hard work into going out every week and winning and haven't done enough of it." - Parramatta Eels captain Clint Gutherson

"It was a pretty chaotic game, and usually they can end 34-24, or 34-26, but we had a couple of really key try saves; I was really happy with the 12 in those conditions.

"I thought Lindsay (Collins) had to be big for us with Jared (Waerea-Hargreaves) being out, with Reagan (Campbell Gillard) and (Junior) Paulo there, he needed to assume that responsibility and he did tonight and then Teddy (James Tedesco) and Kez (Luke Keary) nailed the execution of some game planning there that the boys wanted to do. It was a game we had to win, whoever lost was out and we had to get it done." - Roosters coach Trent Robinson

"I thought the boys hung on really well ... it was a pretty chaotic first half, it felt like we weathered that storm at the start and started to get control as the half went on." - Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary

What's Next
Next week, the Eels will travel to BlueBet Stadium to take on their local rivals Penrith in what is set to be another stern challenge, before closing out their regular season with a bye.

The Roosters will host Wests Tigers at Allianz Stadium before a blockbuster at Accor Stadium against the Rabbitohs.

NRL.com