Broncos, Roosters record wins ahead of blockbuster NRL clash

The Sydney Roosters moved into second place for the first time since round one of the Australia National Rugby League, winning a tough game against the Parramatta Eels to record their ninth straight victory.

With just three rounds to go before the finals series, the Roosters fought back from what looked like an unlikely triumph for the Eels, turning a 4-18 half-time score to a 28-18 win on Saturday.

Roosters coach Trent Robinson praised prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who scored a crucial try in the final 10 minutes.

"It was nice, it was a good reward for him, he had some big moments," Robinson said.

"But we were a little bit off early. Parramatta showed some good intensity. It wasn't pretty and they opened us up a few times.

"I thought we began to turn things around before half-time. And 24-0 (second half) was a good reaction."

The Roosters' win comes ahead of a blockbuster clash against league leaders the Brisbane Broncos in Sydney next weekend.

On Friday, the Broncos overcame back-to-back losses to comfortably beat the St George Illawarra Dragons 32-6.

The Broncos hit six-tries-to-one as New Zealand international Adam Blair returned from a two-game suspension to make several important defensive interventions.

Blair said he was not focused on next week's showdown but on his own team's performance.

"We can't worry about the Roosters too much, everyone knows how good they are," the 29-year-old said.

"We've just got to worry about ourselves. We haven't looked too far ahead.

"The key thing is to keep doing what we've been doing all year. That's worked for us."

The Roosters' ascent up the ladder was aided by the South Sydney Rabbitohs after they upset the North Queensland Cowboys 31-18 on Thursday.

The reigning premiers showed why they were serious contenders this year, scoring three tries after leading by one point at half-time to send the third-placed Cowboys to their second-consecutive defeat.

In contrast, the New Zealand Warriors' finals hopes appeared dashed after they recorded their fifth straight loss when they went down 10-24 to the Penrith Panthers on Saturday.

Warriors coach Andrew McFadden said the team was missing hooker Thomas Leuluai and halfback Shaun Johnson, who are both injured.

The Manly Sea Eagles stayed on the heels of the top eight as they kept their finals ambitions alive and extended their winning streak to four games with a thrilling 26-24 win over the Canberra Raiders on Sunday.

Also on Sunday, the Canterbury Bulldogs beat cellar-dwellers the Gold Coast Titans, scoring three tries in the last 13 minutes to record a 36-14 victory.

Meanwhile, the West Tigers suffered a further setback after losing 18-24 to the Newcastle Knights in a bottom-of-the-table game on Saturday, with injury fears for Luke Brooks, Aaron Woods and captain Robbie Farah.

The Cronulla Sharks play the Melbourne Storm in the last match of Round 23 on Monday.
Source: AFP