NRL premiers score a stunning victory away from home in round three.
The Sydney Roosters have scored twice in the final eight minutes to snatch victory away from the Brisbane Broncos in front of a packed Suncorp Stadium in the NRL.
With the largest margin being just eight points in favour of the Broncos, coming late in the game, the Roosters showed why they are the premiers thanks to tries from Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Boyd Cordner.
Despite the narrow loss the Broncos showed they will be a tough side to beat if they play to their potential this season, with halfback Ben Hunt starring for his side.
Brisbane were first on the board when Hunt split the line before Corey Parker slotted the conversion to make it 6-0 to the home side.
Sydney hit back quickly as Michael Jennings captalised on great hands on his inside to see the centre slide across with James Maloney also adding the extras.
The away side grabbed the lead for the first time in the game as Sam Moa capped a stellar individual run as Maloney went 2/2 with the boot.
The flurry of action continued as Sam Thaiday scored in the 22nd minute as the arm-wrestle continued on the scoreboard with Parker slotting the shot for goal to make it 12-12.
With the sides unable to be split at half-time, the Broncos nudged ahead thanks to a penalty from right in front after Roosters fullback Anthony Minichiello held on in the tackle for too long.
The Broncos grabbed an important try with good lead-up work on the Roosters’ line which resulted in Lachlan Maranta diving over in the corner to make it 18-12 with the missed conversion from Parker.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall scored for the Roosters soon after despite extensive analysis from the video
referee for a suspected obstruction in the lead-up to the centre reaching out for the line.
However, the green light meant the home side were unable to skip out to a significant lead as the see-sawing clash continued in the second half with Maloney splitting the uprights to make it 18-all.
Brisbane scored for the third time by running it on the last tackle, with Josh Hoffman finding Jack Reed as he carried two Roosters over the line to give his side the lead.
However, Parker could not give his side a six-point buffer with his conversion attempt hitting the left-hand upright with less than 10 minutes left in the game.
Hunt continued his sensational game for the home side as they made the Roosters for giving away a penalty.
The Brisbane halfback put the defence into two minds by selling a dummy-pass before beating four
defenders to ground the ball and all but seal his side’s third win from as many games.
Amazingly the Roosters failed to lie down as they surged downfield before Roger Tuivasa-Sheck showing great strength to fend off the last tackle with the score becoming 26-24 with less five minutes remaining.
With a repeat set the Roosters were able to get their first line drop-out of the season with the clock showing just over two and a half minutes left on the clock as the crowd at Suncorp Stadium moved to the edge of their seats.
Amazingly Boyd Cordner was on the end of a sensational pass with the tri-colours scoring twice in less than eight minutes with Mitchell Pearce showing a great last-pass.
Maloney added the extras to make it 30-26 but the Broncos managed to regather the ball from the kick-off, sparking a frantic 10 seconds from the home side before Daley Copley was shut down in an amazing finale.
The Roosters will look to use the momentum from their win when they host the Manly Sea Eagles in what is set to be one of the games of the round.
While the Broncos will be out to hit back when they travel to WIN Stadium, to try and tame the St-George Illawarra Dragon next Friday night.
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