James Tedesco has shown he is capable of carrying a depleted Sydney Roosters through the finals, knocking Manly out with a 40-16 win at Allianz Stadium.
In a brutal Saturday night showing, the Roosters battered and bruised the Sea Eagles to set up a preliminary final against Melbourne at AAMI Park.
Manly lost Tolu Koula to a concussion in the first tackle of the semi-final, and had a dusty Jake Trbojevic sent for a HIA on the very next play.
But ultimately the most damage was done on the scoreboard, where the Roosters rushed out to a 20-0 lead and kept control of the game throughout.
Questions will be asked over the Roosters’ ability to match it with the Storm and Penrith, given they have a 1-20 record against the two sides since the start of 2020.
Critics have also pointed to Sam Walker and Brandon Smith’s season-ending ACL ruptures, while their 30-10 loss to the Panthers last week also raised eyebrows.
But Tedesco showed on Saturday night he can still lift the Tricolours to being a premiership threat, in their best showing of the past month ahead of next Friday’s preliminary final.
The No.1 had his fingerprints all over the Roosters’ win, finishing with two tries, two assists and 181 metres in his 250th NRL match.
“He was incredible. He made a decision how he was going to play tonight,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.
“You won’t see any difference in him from week to week. Underneath he is quite shy, so therefore he doesn’t say too much. He’s not going to say ‘I am going to do this’.
“But somewhere during the week he made a decision (to stand up). He’s been playing like that all year, but that was another level up tonight.
“That was exceptional.”
The fullback laid on the Roosters’ first try when he drew in defenders and put a fit-again Victor Radley through a gaping hole.
He then scored the Roosters’ next when Luke Keary swung it to the left, and Tedesco doubled up on the play to combine with Daniel Tupou and go over to make it 14-0.
And when Manly scored through Haumole Olakau’atu before the break to make it 20-4, it was Tedesco who ensured there would be no Sea Eagles comeback.
Moments into the second half, the fullback took an Angus Crichton ball out the back and hit Tupou on the chest with a cut-out ball to send the winger over.
He then scored his second shortly after, stepping and charging his way to the line after a Joey Manu offload.
Manu also had a good night providing strike on the left, busting five tackles and passing for Dom Young to score late after a Keary kick.
Roosters halfback Sandon Smith also survived a tough working over early from Manly in defence, before having his big moment in attack.
Criticised for his performance last week against Penrith, the Roosters half scored before halftime when he stepped Daly Cherry-Evans to go over.
And the Roosters middle also looked far more dominant with Jared Waerea-Hargreaves back from suspension, from his opening hit up on Koula.
For Manly, they were always going to need things to go their way to beat the highly-fancied Roosters.
But after the back-to-back blows early and the absence of Koula at centre, it was always going to be tough.
Olakau’atu landed several bone-rattling hits on Lindsay Collins, but the Sea Eagles’ defence was otherwise picked apart too easily.
Tom Trbojevic also looked less hampered this week with his shoulder and knee issues, breaking downfield in the second half before a Tommy Talau try.
But even then Manly put the ball down on their next set following the kick off, summing up their night as they crashed out of the competition.
“What could go wrong, did go wrong in many respects tonight,” Manly coach Anthony Seibold said.
“It was really tough. The start was a little bit surreal in some ways losing Tolu and Jake in the first two tackles of the game.
“I was really proud of the boys, the Roosters were just far too good.”
