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Roosters beat Rabbitohs as Storm hires top lawyer to fight Slater’s ‘shoulder charge’

Ferguson's try was a piece of brilliance.

Ferguson's try was a piece of brilliance. Photo: Getty

The Sydney Roosters booked their spot in the NRL grand final after the minor premiers outfought South Sydney 12-4 in a tough slog at Allianz Stadium on Saturday evening.

Despite star halfback Cooper Cronk battling a clearly painful shoulder injury, the Roosters produced an outstanding defensive effort to keep the Rabbitohs to just two penalty goals in front of 44,380 fans.

And the Roosters could face a Billy Slater-less Melbourne Storm in next Sunday’s grand final after the rugby league legend was hit with a shoulder charge on Saturday morning.

The Storm immediately confirmed they would challenge the charge for Slater’s hit on Sosaia Feki in the club’s 22-6 win over Cronulla on Friday evening, with a judiciary hearing to be held on either Monday or Tuesday.

And while that story is set to dominate headlines in grand final week, plenty of column inches will also be dedicated to the shoulder of ex-Storm star Cronk, with the Roosters veteran set to face a race against time to prove his fitness.

In a gritty contest between the Roosters and the Rabbitohs, Daniel Tupou, Blake Ferguson and Paul Momirovski scored tries for the victors.

But it was Sydney’s defence that was the real talking point, with a mixture of excellent organisation from the Roosters, and countless handling errors from the Rabbitohs, keeping Anthony Seibold’s side tryless.

South Sydney hooker Damien Cook was particularly disappointing on the big stage, throwing a series of poor passes – a major surprise given the 27-year-old’s outstanding season.

Luke Keary and Joseph Manu were outstanding for the Roosters, who will get centre Latrell Mitchell and prop Dylan Napa back from suspension for next week’s decider.

Roosters fullback James Tedesco hailed his side’s “awesome” defensive effort.

“It’s been our backbone all year,” he told the Nine Network.

“Everyone in our line is confident that we’ll work from the inside and not let each other down and the boys were outstanding tonight.

“It was obviously a tough game. Souths came with everything.

“We didn’t make it easy for ourselves but to come away with the win is pretty exciting.”

On Cronk, who struggled to raise his arm and hobbled through the second half, Tedesco said the veteran’s experience and big game know-how was integral in the dying stages.

“Obviously ‘Coops’ was in some pain but he knew we needed him out here for his leadership,” he added.

“Even though he was sort of hobbling around, his talk and communication, it’s crucial in these games.”

Cooper Cronk

Cronk battled on through the pain. Photo: Getty

Former Roosters star Braith Anasta labelled the performance of Trent Robinson’s side as “inspirational”.

“It’s a huge 80 minutes for the Roosters – to hold out the best attacking side in the competition,” he said on Fox League.

“They [Souths] tried everything, they tried valiantly but they just couldn’t get over that tryline.

“It was enormous by the Roosters. They just kept turning up for each other.

“Very spirited, tenacious, tough … defence wins premierships.”

As Cook walked around in tears following the match’s completion, South Sydney captain Greg Inglis bemoaned his side’s ball handling.

“Bit lost for words … we had two hurdles to go and just couldn’t get over,” he told Nine.

“It was just one of those seasons where we had it but unfortunately we beat ourselves.”

Greg Inglis South Sydney

Inglis was gutted. Photo: Getty

The win ended Sydney’s recent habit of falling at the preliminary final stage – the Roosters had lost three since their 2013 premiership.

The match

Adam Reynolds – who kicked three field goals and scored all 13 of South Sydney’s points in its thrilling semi-final win over Cronulla – nudged the Rabbitohs in front with a 13th-minute penalty.

But that was the only time South Sydney led, and it did not last long, as fast hands from Cronk, Keary and Tedesco helped Tupou over in the corner for the first half’s only try.

Reynolds responded with a penalty in an error-strewn first half that saw both sides finish locked at 4-4.

A stunning Ferguson try swung the match, though, with Manu’s clever offload made to look even better by the former’s quick feet in the right corner.

The Roosters kept missing their kicks and even a penalty from straight in front – after the obviously struggling Cronk was crunched by Junior Tatola – was wasted by Sio Siua Taukeiaho.

That kept the margin at four points until late call-up Momirovski pounced on the spill from a Keary kick to score the game’s final try with 10 minutes remaining.

Sydney Roosters

Momirovski’s try sparked big celebrations. Photo: Getty

And despite the Rabbitohs finishing with the majority of possession, they, yet again, lacked the composure or cutting edge to breach Sydney’s defence.

Renowned lawyer on the case

Representing Slater in the much-anticipated judiciary hearing will be Nick Ghabar, well known in rugby league circles for his ability to get players to avoid suspensions.

Complicating Slater’s case is the fact that he has already announced he will retire at season’s end, meaning that he may have already played his last match.

“We’re going to leave no stones unturned and do everything we can to get Bill up,” Storm football boss Frank Ponissi said on Saturday.

“We think we’ve got a strong case. We were disappointed he was charged.

“Whilst initially shocked and disappointed to be charged, he’s putting everything into the defence [case]. That’s typical Bill.”

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