Chooks run riot over weary Knights

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MINOR premiers Sydney Roosters swept aside the week from hell to cut Newcastle open from long-range and qualify for their sixth Grand Final in 13 seasons.

7 Tries 2
Daniel Tupou 31'	Joseph Leilua 66'
Michael Jennings 34'	Joseph Leilua 68'
Aidan Guerra 48'
Michael Jennings 52'
Mitchell Aubusson 57'
Jake Friend 61'
Aidan Guerra 80'
5 Conversions 1
James Maloney 35'	Tyrone Roberts 69'
James Maloney 49'
James Maloney 54'
James Maloney 58'
James Maloney 80'
1 Penalties 2
James Maloney 8'	Tyrone Roberts 26'
	Tyrone Roberts 40'

Despite irregular human growth hormone and testosterone test results being leaked publicly during the week, the Roosters were all business to set-up a Grand Final against arch-rivals Manly.

The Tricolours' big game players all delivered, with Sonny Bill Williams soldiering on through illness, Michael Jennings superb and playmakers Mitchell Pearce, James Maloney and Jake Friend all producing the temperament and creativity required to win finals football.

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"It was a challenging week and it was the players that got us through. We had really good strong management from the club and the players responded really well," Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

"They knew it was wrong to put those guys on the front page and they supported them quickly. There's a lot of pessimism in our sport when it comes to us older guys about what happens in our game.

"The guys knew what they did, they were happy with what they'd come to and the boys decided to get going on Thursday morning.

"They came in, talked about it and they were the ones that kept pushing it, they were ready to go. The way that those guys played today was impressive."

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For Newcastle, the club's brave run went out the window when Danny Buderus was knocked out and forced off on a medicab in the 18th minute.

Buderus was on the wrong end of a Jared Waerea-Hargreaves elbow that was entirely accidental.

Winger Daniel Tupou produced a massive play to open the second half, making a lightning 55m break from deep in his own territory to set up field position for Aidan Guerra's try.

Knights fullback Darius Boyd was flying through chasing a Tyrone Roberts kick when the ball bounced up and whoever swooped was going to have an opportunity.

If Boyd won it, the Knights probably would have scored. Instead, Tupou produced a brilliant run before Guerra put on a pirouette a couple of plays later for an 18-4 scoreline.

Five minutes later, Jennings cut the Knights open from a standing start 25m out off a Pearce inside ball, putting the Roosters on course for the Grand Final.

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The Roosters started all guns blazing, but through the blue-collar grit that defines the city of Newcastle, the Knights held solid.

Friend scooted out of dummy half and sent captain Anthony Minichiello into open space. He found Pearce, who threw a looping cut-out ball to Guerra before the Knights eventually shut the raid down.

Next up it was Pearce and Maloney combining, only for the five-eighth to be shut down centimetres from the line, with Robbie Rochow and Jeremy Smith denying him.

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Smith couldn't resist giving Maloney a facial, which the video referees deemed unnecessary pressure and the Roosters were awarded a penalty in front of the posts for a 2-0 lead.

The Knights opted for a simple style of one-out forward running, while the Roosters were throwing a combination of brute force mixed with flashes of finesse.

Then came the turning point when Buderus was hurt.

Waerea-Hargreaves ran at the brave Novocastrian, who threw his body into a position few other players would.

Buderus was knocked out for about three minutes and then taken to hospital for precautionary scans.

From that point on, it was going to take a special performance from the Knights to qualify for the Grand Final.

The next big moment came nine minutes before halftime, when the Roosters put back-to-back tries together, to Tupou and Michael Jennings, and power to a 12-2 lead.

Sadly, the Jennings try came off a forward pass, meaning the match officials are bound to come in for more criticism at the most important time of the year in September.

The Tupou try was like something out of a Harlem Globetrotters show reel, with the towering Rooster leaping high above Akuila Uate to pluck a James Maloney cross-field kick out of the air, then gracefully touching down for the first try of the night.

Unfortunately, as slick as the long-range Jennings try three minutes later looked, with the Tricolours cutting the Knights open from long range, there was a forward pass to start it from Sonny Bill Williams to Dylan Napa.

Napa found himself in space before giving it to Pearce, who found Jennings. The centre went on a powerful surge all the way to the line.

But the refereeing bungle will leave another sour taste, especially after the seventh-tackle fiasco of the opening week of the finals.

Roosters captain Anthony Minichiello could hardly wipe the smile off his face about the prospect of playing in a sixth grand final for the club, with the possibility of captaining the Tricolours to a premiership.

"Manly are just a tough team. They don't give in. It's going to be a huge match. We've had some tough games against them this year. Really low scoring games. Defensive games, very physical. So we expect no different," Minichiello said. 

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