The Daly Cherry-Evans era has ended in disaster across the ditch after the Roosters suffered a humbling 42-18 defeat at the hands of the Warriors who taught them a lesson in early season footy.
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The veteran halfback has had some great moments against the Warriors, with Cherry-Evans beating them in the grand final in his first season, while he kicked the winning field goal against them in his last game for Manly.
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But he’ll head back to Australia licking his wounds after his first NRL game in a Roosters jersey ended in disaster as Chanel Harris-Tavita raced past him off a kick to seal the deal with five minutes to go.
All the focus in the pre-season was how Cherry-Evans would combine with Sam Walker in his new role at five-eighth, but it was an old issue which came back to haunt him with the Warriors targeting him defensively from the outset.
Cherry-Evans and his outside men lacked any cohesion as the Warriors scored twice in the first half going through gaping holes in the defensive line.
Walker had his moments in attack on the left edge but his new halves partner was hardly sighted in the red zone, although he did have a try disallowed early in the second half.
Cherry-Evans also came up with a costly error with 10 minutes to go, but he wasn’t alone as the same issues that have plagued the Roosters for years came back to haunt them.
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FOWL PLAY
Ill-discipline was a major issue for the Roosters with 12 indiscretions in the first half, while they only completed eight sets in the opening 40 minutes.
Angus Crichton was placed on report for a tackle on Boyd after he kicked the ball which led to a Warriors try, while fellow rep forward Lindsay Collins was penalised while in possession which led to another try.
The Roosters have enough talent to dominate the competition, but they won’t give themselves a chance if they continue to drop the ball and give away cheap penalties.
The only highlight was skipper James Tedesco scoring his 100th try for the club.
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FORD’S MASSIVE MOTOR
With Mitch Barnett still missing with a knee injury, the Warriors desperately needed someone else to stand up in the middle.
Enter Jackson Ford. He was phenomenal with 16 carries in the first half and finished the night with 171 metres from 22 runs after surviving a scare when he appeared to hurt his shoulder.
He wasn’t the only one to stand tall with Tanah Boyd doing brilliantly with star halfback Luke Metcalf (knee) sidelined as he sliced through for the opener and set up three more tries.
He controlled the contest as the left edge ran rampant, with Boyd’s kick for a flying Leka Halasima putting the result beyond doubt in the second half to get the Warriors’ season off to the perfect start.
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DOUBLE TROUBLE
The Roosters suffered an early-season blow with Spencer Leniu going down with a hamstring injury in the pre-game warm-up.
The representative forward was named to start in the front row but was a no show with reports he suffered a muscle injury before kick-off.
Blake Steep started the match at lock instead, with Salesi Foketi included on the six-man bench after playing in the NSW Cup earlier on Friday where he scored a late try in the 48-14 victory over the Warriors.
There are also concerns for off-season signing Tommy Talau who suffered a non-contact knee injury in reserve grade after scoring a try in each half.
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TEAMS
Warriors team: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak 3. Ali Leiataua 4. Adam Pompey 5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck 6. Chanel Harris-Tavita 7. Tanah Boyd 8. James Fisher-Harris 9. Wayde Egan 10. Jackson Ford 11. Kurt Capewell 12. Jacob Laban 13. Erin Clark 14. Samuel Healey 15. Demitric Vaimauga 16. Leka Halasima 17. Tanner Stowers-Smith 18. Taine Tuaupiki 20. Morgan Gannon
Roosters Team: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Billy Smith 19. Fetalaiga Pauga 5. Mark Nawaqanitawase 6. Daly Cherry-Evans 7. Sam Walker 8. Naufahu Whyte 9. Benaiah Ioelu 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Angus Crichton 12. Nat Butcher 13. Blake Steep 14. Connor Watson 15. Siua Wong 16. Egan Butcher 18. Cody Ramsey 20. Salesi Foketi 22. Toby Rodwell
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