Sydney Roosters 12–4 South Sydney Rabbitohs — Preliminary Final, 2018 NRL Finals Series
22 Sep 2018 · Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 44,380
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Preliminary Final, 2018 NRL finals series: Sydney Roosters 12–4 South Sydney Rabbitohs, at Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 22 Sep 2018.
Sourcing caveat: A confirmed player-of-the-match was not identified in sources found. South Sydney's 4th interchange player is unidentified — Rugby League Project's own match page for this fixture (the source already cited) lists only 3 bench names (Murray, Britt, Tatola) rather than the standard 4, and no other source checked names a 4th; it is not clear whether Souths genuinely fielded only a 3-man bench that day or a 4th player's name simply went unrecorded.
Scorers
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Tupou 15' (unconverted); Ferguson 48' (unconverted); Momirovski 70' (unconverted) Goals: Ferguson and Taukeiaho (0/3 conversions combined) — all three conversion attempts missed; the exact attempt-by-attempt split between the two kickers could not be confirmed |
| South Sydney Rabbitohs | Goals: Reynolds (2/3 penalty goals) — successful kicks at 13' and 25' |
Team sheets
| Sydney Roosters | South Sydney Rabbitohs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Tedesco | Fullback | Alex Johnston | 1 |
| 2 | Daniel Tupou | Wing | Campbell Graham | 2 |
| 3 | Paul Momirovski | Centre | Greg Inglis (c) | 3 |
| 4 | Joseph Manu | Centre | Dane Gagai | 4 |
| 5 | Blake Ferguson | Wing | Robert Jennings | 5 |
| 6 | Luke Keary | Five-Eighth | Cody Walker | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Adam Reynolds | 7 |
| 8 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | Prop | Thomas Burgess | 8 |
| 9 | Jake Friend (c) | Hooker | Damien Cook | 9 |
| 10 | Siosiua Taukeiaho | Prop | George Burgess | 10 |
| 11 | Boyd Cordner (c) | Second-Row | John Sutton | 11 |
| 12 | Mitchell Aubusson | Second-Row | Angus Crichton | 12 |
| 13 | Isaac Liu | Lock | Sam Burgess | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 14 | Victor Radley | Cameron Murray | 15 | |
| 15 | Lindsay Collins | Dean Britt | 17 | |
| 16 | Zane Tetevano | Tevita Tatola | 20 | |
| 17 | Ryan Matterson | UNCONFIRMED | UNCONFIRMED | |
| Trent Robinson | Coach | Anthony Seibold | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Adam Gee |
Match report
This preliminary final was the decisive step in the Sydney Roosters' run to the 2018 premiership, played in front of 44,380 fans at Allianz Stadium — one of the final NRL matches staged there before the venue closed for demolition and rebuilding. Coached by Trent Robinson, the Roosters overcame a deadlock at halftime, in which South Sydney (coached by first-year mentor Anthony Seibold) led on the back of two Adam Reynolds penalty goals, by scoring three unconverted tries after the break through Blake Ferguson, rookie centre Paul Momirovski, and winger Daniel Tupou. The Rabbitohs, playing in their first preliminary final since 2014, were unable to convert any second-half pressure into points. The match is also remembered as part of halfback Cooper Cronk's celebrated finals campaign, in which he played through a serious shoulder injury sustained in the regular season's final round. The 12-4 win sent the Roosters through to the Grand Final against the Melbourne Storm.