A Mitchell Pearce field goal has fired the Sydney Roosters to a 13-12 NRL golden point win over St George Illawarra in an Anzac Day classic. Playing in front of a record crowd of 40,864 at Allianz Stadium, the Roosters No7 was the hero for the home side against the Dragons, who were gallant after losing five-eighth Gareth Widdop just before half-time.

After Pearce scored a try to give his side the lead for the first time in the 66th minute, the Roosters looked headed for victory. However, Nene MacDonald spectacularly scored with two minutes on the clock and Josh Dugan – filling in for Widdop – kicked the conversion five metres from the sideline to send the game to golden point extra time.

Cameron McInnes looked like he had botched the attacking raid when he kicked it on the second tackle, however, MacDonald caught the ricochet and shrugged off five defenders to score. Pearce booted the winning one-pointer from 30 metres out in the 84th minute of play to give his side a famous win.

The turning point in the game came just 90 second before the break when Widdop was taken from the field with a left knee injury. The Dragons No6 ended the game in the sheds in a knee brace after suffering a suspected medial ligament strain.

Widdop – playing in his 150th NRL game – was arguably the Dragons’ best player in the first half, standing tall under a weight of pressure as he was repeatedly hit by Roosters defenders as he passed the ball. His absence had a noticeable effect on the Dragons who looked rudderless at times in attack and coincided with the Roosters taking control of the game.

Roosters winger Blake Ferguson looked to be in real trouble limping around the back field with a knee injury but shook off his troubles to race through and dive on a Jake Friend grubber to reduce the Dragons’ lead to 6-4 after 50 minutes.

The Dragons’ task was made harder when fullback Josh Dugan was temporarily taken from the field for a concussion test just seconds after having his legs taken out by Pearce while fielding a kick. When Pearce bobbled and then regained the ball over the line for a try, the Roosters had the lead for the first time in the game.

Meanwhile, Melbourne returned to top spot on the ladder after holding out the Warriors in an enthralling Anzac Day clash at AAMI Park. Storm winger Josh Addo-Carr crossed in the 66th minute to give his side the lead for the first time, while Felice Kaufusi capped off the 20-14 victory when he barged over as the clock wound down.

It was Melbourne’s seventh win in eight game this season, moving them two points clear of the chasing pack.



Last year the Warriors were trounced 42-0 in the same match but showed their intent from the opening whistle and David Fusitu’a collected his first try in the 10th minute. The centre also touched down early in the second half in an impressive showing while five-eighth Kieran Foran was one of the Warriors’ star performers as they took the lead four times during the match, only to be denied by the determined Storm.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy had warned of the dangerous Warriors spine and Foran, hooker Issac Luke, halfback Shaun Johnson and fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck matched the might of the Storm big guns in an absorbing contest.



The teams went to half-time locked at 8-8 after giant Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona barrelled across the line on the half-hour mark and the they traded late penalties. Fusitu’a’s second try broke the deadlock before Melbourne centre Will Chambers pushed his case for Test selection when he got outside Warriors second-rower Bodene Thompson to set up a try for Cooper Cronk.

The arm wrestle continued before the pressure from the Storm told on the tiring Warriors pack, with Addo-Carr finding one of the growing gaps to cash in before Kaufusi’s 77th minute try.