Sydney Roosters 21–12 Cronulla-Sutherland — Qualifying Final, 2018 NRL Finals Series
8 Sep 2018 · Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW · Attendance: 24,588
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
Qualifying Final, 2018 NRL finals series: Sydney Roosters 21–12 Cronulla-Sutherland, at Allianz Stadium, Sydney, NSW on 8 Sep 2018.
Sourcing caveat: Individual try/goal minute markers could not be reliably retrieved from sources found. No official player-of-the-match award was found for this fixture.
Scorers
| Sydney Roosters | Tries: Cronk; Manu; Mitchell; Tupou Goals: Mitchell (2/5 conversions) Drop goals: Cronk |
| Cronulla-Sutherland | Tries: Feki; Lee Goals: Holmes (2/3 conversions) |
Team sheets
| Sydney Roosters | Cronulla-Sutherland | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | James Tedesco | Fullback | Valentine Holmes | 1 |
| 2 | Daniel Tupou | Wing | Sosaia Feki | 2 |
| 3 | Latrell Mitchell | Centre | Josh Dugan | 3 |
| 4 | Joseph Manu | Centre | Ricky Leutele | 4 |
| 5 | Blake Ferguson | Wing | Edrick Lee | 5 |
| 6 | Luke Keary | Five-Eighth | Matt Moylan | 6 |
| 7 | Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Chad Townsend | 7 |
| 8 | Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | Prop | Andrew Fifita | 8 |
| 9 | Jake Friend | Hooker | Jayden Brailey | 9 |
| 10 | Siosiua Taukeiaho | Prop | Matt Prior | 10 |
| 11 | Boyd Cordner | Second-Row | Luke Lewis | 11 |
| 12 | Isaac Liu | Lock | Wade Graham | 12 |
| 16 | Mitchell Aubusson | Second-Row | Paul Gallen (c) | 13 |
| Substitutes | ||||
| 13 | Victor Radley | James Segeyaro | 15 | |
| 14 | Lindsay Collins | Aaron Woods | 16 | |
| 15 | Zane Tetevano | Jayson Bukuya | 17 | |
| 17 | Ryan Matterson | Scott Sorensen | 18 | |
| Trent Robinson | Coach | Shane Flanagan | ||
Match officials
| Referee | Gerard Sutton |
Match report
The Sydney Roosters opened their 2018 finals campaign with a hard-fought 21-12 win over the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the Qualifying Final at Allianz Stadium. Trailing narrowly at halftime, the Roosters — who had finished the regular season in second place — pulled away in the second half to secure a home semi-final and a week's rest, a reward reserved for qualifying final winners under the NRL's top-four finals system. Cooper Cronk, in his first season at the club after a premiership-winning career at Melbourne, scored a try and added a field goal, while Latrell Mitchell, Joseph Manu and Daniel Tupou also crossed for the Roosters. Sosaia Feki and Edrick Lee replied for the Sharks, who despite the loss remained alive in the finals via the second-chance elimination pathway. The result set the Roosters on course for a run that would ultimately end in the 2018 NRL Grand Final.