The Roosters’ season has been derailed as star half Luke Keary suffered a probable season-ending ACL injury in a 26-16 loss to a rampaging South Sydney.
St George Illawarra made it two wins in a row with a dominant 38-12 victory over Manly in Wollongong on Friday night.
Keary fell down without contact and gripped his left knee before being helped off the pitch shortly after halves teammate Lachlan Lam suffered an MCL injury.
The duo suffered the injuries in the second half at Stadium Australia, adding further woe to the depleted Roosters who already have co-captains Jake Friend and Boyd Cordner on the sideline for concussion precautions.
The Roosters also had prop Lindsay Collins taken from the field in a medicab after he was knocked out by friendly fire from teammate Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
It capped off a disappointing night for the Roosters after they were blown off the paddock in the first half by the Rabbitohs, who led 24-0 early into the second half.
In the first two matches of the season Brett Morris and James Tedesco had scored 11 tries between them but they were held to just one each against the Rabbitohs.
A try at full-time for Josh Morris made the scoreline respectable for the Roosters.
The Roosters’ ruthless energy that had seen them dominate Manly and Wests Tigers arrived too late in round 3 as the Rabbitohs had them rattled from the outset.
Earlier in the week both teams swore the Rabbitohs’ 60-8 thrashing of the Roosters in the final round of last year was now irrelevant, but Wayne Bennett’s team appeared to pick up where they left off.
Former Roosters fullback Latrell Mitchell reminded his ex-teammates what they are missing with a trick play to put Cody Walker over for the first try after eight minutes, with Dane Gagai crossing soon after to go ahead 12-0.
The Roosters were barely holding on at 14-0 when Daniel Suluka-Fifita’s baffling brain explosion cost him 10 minutes in the sin-bin, but he was lucky it was not a send off.
With tensions already bubbling, the 21-year-old prop let rip with a punch to the back of Jai Arrow’s head while the Rabbitohs forward was held in a three-man tackle.
He was waved off the field by the cheeky Rabbitohs pack, who then scored through Josh Mansour on the right edge to hammer home the lesson.
With the Rabbitohs leading 18-0 at half-time, Walker’s second try and South Sydney’s third down the Roosters’ left edge put the result to bed just after the break.
Poor execution cost the Roosters dearly with an uncharacteristic 12 errors for the night.
Waerea-Hargreaves also gave away his fair share of penalties, hitting Cameron Murray around the ears in the first half, and Mitchell on the nose in the 55th minute.
It all compounded for the Roosters for their first loss of the season, while the Rabbitohs are now two from three to start the year.
Off-contract St George Illawarra half Corey Norman has produced his best performance in recent memory to pile further pain on Manly.
Just days after admitting he was facing one of the most important years of his career, Norman had a role in three of the Dragons’ four tries.
It helped the Saints move into the NRL’s top eight for the first time since April 2019, after they started the season as early wooden spoon favourites.
The Sea Eagles could well be in the running for the race to avoid bottom spot, with their 0-3 record their worst start to a season in 12 years.
But while the Sea Eagles struggled, Norman starred.
The five-eighth helped Zac Lomax open the scoring with a cross-field kick for the high-leaping centre, then put Tariq Sims through a hole in the lead-up to the Dragons’ second try before the second rower found Matt Dufty back inside to cross the stripe.
The 30-year-old then iced the match with a nice inside ball for Dufty to cross with 12 minutes to play and put the result beyond doubt.
He should have had another assist to go with his four tackle busts when he broke free from inside his own half, only for Dufty to drop the pass with the line open.
Norman spoke this week about playing for a contract for the first time in his career, with talks yet to begin on a new deal.
The former Brisbane and Parramatta playmaker arrived at the club on an $800,000 deal in 2019, but is almost certain to face a pay cut if he stays.
The only concern for the Dragons was an apparent calf injury to Ben Hunt, but by the time he was put on ice he had already set up two tries and the Dragons led by 26 points.
After starring last week in Townsville, Hunt laid on a brilliant face ball for Jack Bird late in the first half, allowing Cody Ramsey to capitalise on the left wing.
He then helped Lomax bag a double when he grubbered for him late and Manly made a mess of claiming the ball.
Paul Vaughan also had a strong night up front with 160 run metres, while Lomax finished with an equal-club record 22 points.
In contrast, the Sea Eagles are in disarray and must face Penrith next week.
Their only tries against the Dragons came through Reuben Garrick and Daly Cherry-Evans.
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