Roosters aim for back to back Premier League titles
Sydney Roosters will face Parramatta in the 2005 VB Premier League Grand Final after two contrasting qualifying finals on the weekend.
The Roosters simply blew Canberra off the paddock on Saturday at Aussie Stadium, winning 60-10 in one of the most clinical and comprehensive displays of finals football in recent memory.
Shane Flanagan?s team ran in eleven tries as they made the Raiders look outclassed. Boom half Jamie Soward snared 28 points with three tries and eleven goals, while Grant Rovelli, Michael Lett and Lelea Paea all posted doubles as the Roosters ran riot.
With size and pace across the park, the Roosters have shown themselves to be worthy Grand Finalists and will take a power of beating in next Sunday?s decider at Telstra Stadium.
They will take on Parramatta after the Eels ended Newtown?s bid for glory with a 24-14 win in the second qualifier. Early tries to Matt Petersen and John Williams gave the Eels a 12-2 lead before Russell Aitken put the Jets back in the match with a try before half time.
Down 12-8 at half time Newtown needed to score early in the second term but despite applying plenty of pressure, some poor options and defensive errors proved costly. One grubber into the in goal saw Parramatta get back in the field of play and Williams exploded out of dummy half up the blind side to race 90 metres and score. When Drew Dalton dummied his way through and crashed over soon after Parra were ahead 24-8 and sitting pretty.
Geoff Johnson scored a gem of a try to give the Jets a glimmer of hope but that faded when Jardine Bobongie was called back for a forward pass as he crossed with 13 minutes to go, and Parramatta were able to hang on for a deserved victory.
Best for the Eels were centres Ashley Graham and Brett Delaney, while Joel Reddy and Marcus Perenara also stood out. Newtown?s best were David Thompson, Cameron Ciraldo and Bobongie.
Source: http://www.rleague.com/article.php?id=19544