NRL: Roosters outmuscle Warriors in wet

Krisnan Inu of the Warriors is tackled. Photo / Getty Images

Roosters 13
NZ Warriors 6

The Roosters have beaten the NZ Warriors 13-6 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

Last year's runners up claimed their fourth victory of the season with a 77th minute drop-goal to five-eighth Todd Carney.

The Roosters' dogged defence and clinical-finishing settled the seesaw affair to grab their first triumph over the Warriors in six matches.

After a bye-week, the Warriors started the match with a storming opening quarter as props Russell Packer and Ben Matulino - starting in-place of Origin rep Jacob Lillyman - made huge metres down the middle of the park

The Roosters had been held scoreless in the first twenty minutes of their past three matches and the visitors made sure that pattern continued as they dominated possession and field position.

Despite their advantage in the territorial stakes, the Warriors coughed up three try scoring opportunities as poor handling in the red zone stymied their hard work to keep the home side defending their try-line.

The homeside turned the momentum of the arm-wrestle in the final ten minutes of the first stanza as replacement forwards Jarrad Warea-Hargreaves and Adian Guerra proved difficult to handle for the New Zealand side.

It was Guerra who came up trumps with the first points of the night in the 35th minute as he hit Jake Friend's short-ball on a neat angle to crash through a wall of Warriors to score beside the uprights. Captain Braith Anasta added the extras.

Kiwis and Roosters centre Shaun Kenney-Dowall added the second four-pointer on the stroke of halftime as he slid in-between pair of Warriors to dive on Anthony Minichello's grubber kick. Anasta converted from the sideline.

After a grinding opening forty minutes, the second stanza began sweetly for the Warriors as they posted a try to captain Simon Mannering.

Debutant Shaun Johnson grubbered into the left-corner where Roosters winger BJ Leilua fumbled the ball before Mannering pounced to dot down. James Maloney converted from the sideline to reduce the Roosters lead to 12-6.

The Warriors looked to have scored their second four-pointer five minutes later as Minichello failed to catch a bomb in the back-field, however winger Krisnan Inu was harshly ruled by the TMO to have knocked on before passing to Maloney to score.

In the 63rd minute the Rooster were dealt the same medicine with a try ruled out for a forward pass from Minichello to Leilua as he went over, much to the relief of the Warriors who defended repeat sets on their try-line.

With 12 minutes remaining, both sides played with 12 men as Kenney-Dowall was forced off with a serious ankle injury and replacement second-rower Steve Rapira copping a broken wrist - a cruel debut for the off-season signing who had just returned from a knee injury.

With the match in the balance the Warriors efforts to score a second try came to no-avail, as the Roosters marched to other end of the field for Carney to seal the two competition points with a drop-goal.

Sydney Roosters 13 (Aidan Guerra, Shaun Kenny-Dowall tries; Braith Anasta 2 goals, Todd Carney field goal ) NZ Warriors 6 (Simon Mannering try; James Maloney goal) Halftime: 12-0.

- Herald online