Round 26
Roosters 16 l. Dragons 36

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Dragons SCG comeback denies Roosters 1,000th win
Sun September 3, 2006
The famous Sydney Cricket Ground was the stage last night where the Sydney Roosters had the opportunity to register their 1,000th victory but a strong second half showing from the Dragons slumped the once high flying Bondi men to a second last finish.

With the dramas surrounding the Roosters during the week with the controversial departure of Ricky Stuart as Coach and the axing of his Assistant Shane Flanagan, the turmoil rumoured to be at the Roosters was confirmed and with one game to go they were always going to be dangerous opposition for the Dragons.

St George Illawarra if they had any hope for the top four needed to win and also Melbourne to win with the combined difference being 34 points. The Saints did their part winning by 20 points and Melbourne showed the Dragons the ultimate respect when right on fulltime they went for a penalty goal attempt instead of going for the try, which if they scored would have seen the Storm win by 14 and not 10.

The Roosters came out on fire with Ryan Cross scoring in the 6th minute after only minutes before having a try disallowed. Amos Roberts crossed four minutes later and the Roosters led 10-0 after as many minutes.

Brett Morris got the Dragons on the board in the 15th minute and that was compounded with Roberts scoring his second try six minutes later.

Matt Cooper scored on the stroke of halftime to put the Dragons back into contention trailing 16-8 at the break.

The scoreline remained 16-8 until the 54th minute when Morris scored his second try and Aaron Gorrell's conversion brought the Dragons within two points.

Wes Naiqama scored three minutes later to put the Dragons into the lead for the first time and despite the Dragons missing the conversion attempt the Roosters ran out of steam.

Tries to Clint Greenshields in the 61st minute and Justin Poore five minutes later have the Dragons up 30-16 with the only interest surrounding whether they'll finish higher or lower than Manly.

It looked likely that the difference would be 34 points as both sides held 14 points leads and were gaining the upper hand, however Manly scoring a try and the Dragons not being able to extend the scoreline kept the Sea Eagles just ahead. The Dragons scored right on fulltime and Melbourne came within a whisker. In the end the Dragons fell four points short of passing Manly on the table and will be hoping for the Warriors to win today so they can finish in 5th position where they'll take on Manly at Brookvale Oval on Friday and boost their survival hopes for week two of the Finals should they lose in the opening week. Should the Broncos win today, the Dragons will be making the trip to Suncorp Stadium where they'll meet on Saturday night.

After the match, Stuart said,

"It's always a tough week when you get those type of calls but that's the industry we work in. It's probably not going to be the last time this happens to any coach but it's something that you just deal with but it's the best decision for Ricky Stuart and the best decision for the club.

"A coach has to deliver results and the last two seasons haven't been too healthy in that regard. We've given as much as we can as a coaching staff and the players have as well."

Brown wasn't impressed that the Dragons slow start saw them miss the chance to go above Manly and said,

"It just shows that we missed an opportunity to at worst run fifth. That's what happens when you don't start well.

"They just started with a lot more effort and energy than us and they shouldn't have, our effort should have been as good as their effort. We had more to play for than the Roosters had to play for."

The Roosters season comes to an end with a side on paper that was tipped to make the Top 4 or at worst finish somewhere in the Top 8. It has gone miserably wrong from day one with big name State of Origin signings Braith Anasta and Ashley Harrison proving to be massive flops and internal dramas breaking out all season. The Roosters have enjoyed incredible positive media coverage in recent seasons and any problems have been well protected but this year it all exploded and not even their supporters in the media could help them.

The knives have been out for Stuart all year, a nazi style group known as 'FOFF' successfully drove Brett Finch out of town and problems within the team became apparent. When the Broncos defeated the Roosters 24-6 on Good Friday, the scathing comments by former Roosters Coach Phil Gould about the Roosters performance rung the ears in many people and then later in the season there was audio footage of Finch and Captain Craig Fitzgibbon having a very heated exchange of words after a set play gone wrong. Plus there were rumours of Craig Wing wanting out due to a fallout with Stuart, British enforcer Adrian Morley was effectively unwanted after being offered a token one-year deal and further rumours emerged about player unrest and Stuart's future at Bondi. The Roosters for the first time in a very long time was trumped by South Sydney in the player market when Bulldogs prop Roy Asotasi went to the Rabbitohs despite of a lucrative offer from the Roosters.

It just wasn't the Roosters year for whatever reason where it all fell down soon after making three successive Grand Finals. The challenge now for the Roosters is to find a new Coach and allow him to run the show his way without outside interferences as the Roosters need to rebuild and use the young talent that has been sitting in the lower grades in the last few years.

Advanced Search