18 SPORT MONDAY JULY 16 2018

NRL MONDAYntnews.com.au/sport Ref howlers as Roosters prevail

MURRAY WENZEL awarded a try despite the teen- Rubbing salt into the wounds, TITANS ager thinking he had blown it the Roosters were next to 12 THE have with at least one knock-on. score after the break – Poasa improved to fourth on the lad- Crossing the line, the halfback Faamausili joining the list of ROOSTERS der thanks to a scrappy win on had the ball stripped by Jarrod debutant tryscorers – from an 20 the Gold Coast that featured Wallace before he twice apparent forward pass. GOLD COAST four first-time NRL tryscorers slapped the ball into the post as was put in the Tries: M Fotuaika J Wallace and one of the most head- he fell. sin bin for tackling Ashley Goals: M Gordon 2 scratching decisions of the O’Sullivan’s second touch Taylor without the ball and SYDNEY season. rolled the ball down the post Wallace subsequently scored Tries: P Momirovski S O’Sullivan P Faamausili Despite missing seven of and onto the ground, before he to give the hosts a sniff. Goals: S Taukeiaho 3 B Ferguson their stars, the Roosters pre- forlornly put his hand on it and The Origin vailed 20-12 last night in a indicated he had knocked on. forward looked to have his sec- game that will be remembered But the try was surprisingly ond soon after, only to have it The Roosters’ State of Ori- for a controversial try to debu- upheld on review, lighting a knocked back. That was their gin representatives James Te- tant halfback Sean O’Sullivan. fire on social media and leav- last roll of the dice as the offi- desco, , Boyd The Roosters took a 14-6 ing the 10,074 fans at Cbus cials were booed from the Cordner and lead when the 19-year-old was Super Stadium perplexed. ground at fulltime. were all left out. runs it up for the Titans last night Picture: AAP IMAGE Fittler warns of distractions

NSW coach has warned his winning team that “they put the jersey under pressure” by being troubled with off-field distractions be- fore next year’s series. Fittler will face a dilemma in 2019 — to stick loyal with players who succeeded this se- ries or select purely on form, as he did this season. The Blues mentor said all players were clear-headed coming into camp this year — none facing any off-field dis- tractions. “Without a doubt (the cur- rent players) get credits be- cause they stood up to the big pressure,” Fittler told Triple M yesterday. “The biggest thing was that none of the players came in with distractions. I don’t think any of them were under huge clouds through the media with contracts, issues, or anything like that. “One of the biggest things was that they came in clear- headed, that was the important Andrew McCullough scores the Broncos’ only try of the afternoon as were comfortably beaten by the , 26-6 Picture: AAP thing. We spoke to the players and said the jersey has always got to come first.” Origin medal Battered Broncos under review SELECTOR admits a better system should be introduced for the Medal after the contro- versy surrounding Billy Slat- er’s selection as player of the belted by Warriors . Lockyer was one of the three national selectors – RIKKI-LEE ARNOLD BRONCOS Just last week the Broncos Canberra’s victory over the “It’s pretty disappointing,” alongside and 6 appeared to be finals certain- Cowboys and the Tigers’ win he said. “They outplayed us, – who made Slat- THE Broncos have been left ties when they shot into sev- over St George-Illawarra has out-enthused us. er the first winner of the medal red-faced in their quest for a WARRIORS enth spot on the ladder, with a also now seen them move “We manage to have one of from a losing team despite him top-four spot, after they were 26 six-point gap between them within four points of the top these games every year … it’s playing just two of the three thumped 26-6 by the Warriors BRISBANE and the ninth-placed Raiders. eight, their finals hopes sud- always around this time of matches. in front of their home crowd Tries: A McCullough But yesterday they could denly well and truly alive. year. Under the current system, yesterday. Goals: J Isaako only manage one try through The loss should serve as a “We didn’t have a lot of each selector voted on a It was Brisbane’s first day NEW ZEALAND Andrew McCullough, who wake-up call for Brisbane, who players in Origin but the whole 4-3-2-1 system after each match at Suncorp Stadium on Tries: S Kata 2 G Beale I Luke A barged past three defenders to need to show a lot more con- club is disrupted.” game, with the points com- Paasi a Sunday in almost three years, Goals: S Johnson 3 plant the ball over the line with sistency if they are any chance The Broncos went into the bined to decide series MVP. but in front of 37,493 fans the five minutes to go. of being a true finals threat. match with the top four in NRL chief executive Todd Broncos failed to deliver on A week in can Coach Wayne Bennett said their sights, but will now head Greenberg has already said the expectations. against a determined Warriors change a lot. he hoped that’s what the defeat into next week’s showdown system will be reviewed. With Tevita Pangai Jr outfit. The loss has seen Brisbane could do for his club, but he with fourth-placed Penrith But Lockyer accepted (hamstring) and James Rob- The embarrassing loss was slip back into eighth place and said they always seemed to suf- doing everything they can to change should be made. erts (achilles) missing through compounded by an ankle their for-and-against plummet fer a similar loss at this stage of save their season. “Obviously it can be done injury, the Broncos were un- injury to Jaydn Su’A in the to -26, ultimately ruining all the season. He said the week They pride themselves on better,” Lockyer told Nine’s able to make the most of last 44th minute and a minor knee the hard work from their 34-0 had been disrupted by Origin their defence, but it let them Sunday Footy Show. “I think week’s victory over the Titans, problem for victory over the Titans last and injuries and he expected down greatly yesterday, with there will be changes made as they struggled to muscle up as the final buzzer sounded. week. the team to bounce back. 33 missed tackles. that will get a better outcome.”

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