West Tigers 15
Roosters 19
Finally, almost 20 minutes into golden point extra time, the Roosters completed a remarkable comeback to beat the Tigers in one of the great NRL cliff-hangers last night.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall intercepted and sprinted almost 80 metres for his 21st try of the season which broke the deadlock after the Roosters had trailed 15-2 midway through the second spell.
It was tight, tense, tough, dramatic, pulsating - one of the most remarkable matches in the history of the NRL as the crowd of 33,315 at the Sydney Football Stadium chewed their fingernails to the quick.
The Tigers had finished third in the regular season and the Roosters sixth but the Roosters had won both their encounters this year, 44-32 and 12-8.
It was too close to call and had been billed as the Toddy vs Benji show. Carney, the newly-crowned Dally M winner, had scored 223 points for the Roosters this season and Marshall, the Kiwis' captain, 187, for the Tigers.
Carney made an immediate impression, launching himself into a try-saving tackle as Gareth Ellis seemed certain to score in the opening minutes.
Ellis was over the line after 10 minutes but the try was ruled out back on halfway when Marshall was penalised for throwing a retaliatory punch.
The Tigers dominated territory in the first quarter but the Roosters led 2-0, Carney kicking a penalty after he was the victim of a high shot by Ellis.
But the Roosters' scrambling defence had to break and that it did. In the 28th minute, Robert Lui and Blake Ayshford combined to put Lote Tuqiri over in the left corner.
The Tigers extended their lead to 10-2 just before the break, Beau Ryan scoring in the corner when he chopped inside three defenders to finish off wave after wave of attacks.
The wonder was that the Tigers did not lead by more. They had almost 60 per cent of the territory, made all the line breaks and the Roosters had to make 155 tackles, of which they missed 14. The Roosters had barely fired a shot, their most damaging act when Anthony Minichiello broke the nose of a cameraman in a collision over the sideline.
The Roosters played most of the football early in the second spell but it turned to custard after seven minutes when centre Ayshford intercepted and raced 80 metres to score a try and make it 14-2.
Robbie Farah kicked a neat field goal seven minutes later and, at 15-2, the Tigers seemed almost out of reach.
But, with 20 minutes remaining the Roosters were back in the game after a piece of individual brilliance by Carney.
He chipped, gathered on the bounce, and sent Braith Anasta over in the corner and, for good measure, converted from the sideline to reduce the deficit to seven.
Six minutes later, the Roosters were almost in again, Minichiello losing the ball over the line in the tackle.
The Tigers were feeling the strain - Marshall was hobbling with a knee injury which forced him from the field - and six minutes from the end it became a one-point game when Carney broke and Mitchell Pearce sprinted clear for the try.
Carney converted and it was 15-14.
The Tigers were down to 12 men, the Roosters had all the momentum and, with time up, Anasta kicked an angled field goal to send the match into extra time.
Tigers 15 (L. Tuqiri, B. Ryan, B. Ayshford tries, B. Marshall goal, R. Farah field goal) Roosters 19 (B. Anasta, M. Pearce, S. Kenny-Dowall tries, T. Carney 3 goals, B. Anasta field goal ). Halftime: Tigers 10-2. Fulltime: 15-15.
