Sydney Roosters

A second-half double from Paulo helped lift the Tricolours to victory, but only after they survived a wild finish which saw the Rabbitohs score with two minutes to play, setting up a hail Mary two-point field goal attempt from Latrell Mitchell which fell short of the posts. 

Earlier South Sydney raced out to a 10-0 lead after 15 minutes and dominated the opening proceedings at Allianz Stadium.

After taking an 8-6 lead into the break, the Roosters scored two second-half tries and kicked a penalty with five minutes to go to secure the result at Allianz Stadium, although there will be concern around Brandon Smith failing to play the second half due to a back issue. 

The Warriors battled on through a hefty injury toll which saw them lose Jackson Ford (2nd minute) and Charnze Nicoll Klokstad (50th minute) to failed head injury assessments, while Josh Curran left the field 22 minutes from full-time with a hip pointer injury. 

Trent Robinson's side struggled to get things going in attack against the competition newcomers and shot themselves in the foot with a high error rate, while in addition losing 28-18 they had both Victor Radley and Matt Lodge fail head injury assessments, with the latter now set to undergo surgery on a facial injury this week. 

The Warriors on the other will be in high spirits after a 20-12 win in which they took the limited opportunities presented to them in attack and defended with true grit through prolonged periods camped in their own half. 

The NRL's newest franchise simply outclassed an error-riddled Roosters in front of over 32,000 as Bennett's side capped off celebrations honouring the late Arthur Beetson.

Former Bulldogs hooker Jeremy Marshall-King starred to link well with halves Sean O'Sullivan and Isaiya Katoa seamlessly while veteran forwards Jesse Bromwich, Felise Kaufusi and Mark Nicholls showed age is no barrier in 2023.

With scores locked at half-time, the Dolphins produced an incredible second half of football, running in three tries in 10 minutes to run away with victory.

On paper, the Roosters have one of the best sides in the competition and their loyal fans will be eager to see what new combinations Trent Robinson has come up with during the pre-season.

The match will be the first for marquee recruit Brandon Smith in Roosters colours and he showed enough quality touches in the Pre-Season Challenge to suggest he's in for a big year.

It means the Titans and Dolphins have also missed out on the 21-year-old’s signature.

According to News Corp, the Titans were willing to offer Young over $500,000 a season but it couldn’t compare to the Roosters’ reputation and premiership chances.

The 72-6 defeat of Wests Tigers was the most points scored by a Roosters side since Eastern Suburbs' 87-7 triumph against Canterbury in 1935 and has catapulted the team into sixth position.

The winning margin eclipsed the Roosters' 56-0 triumph against the Tigers in 2004 and lifted Trent Robinson's men ahead of South Sydney and Brisbane into sixth place on for-and-against.

For the Tigers, the defeat eclipsed the club's 64-0 loss against Melbourne in 2001 as their worst defeat and the frustration with the performance led to captain James Tamou being sent off for dissent.

With James Tedesco in supreme form and their forwards doing a mighty job in the middle, the Roosters are looking every bit a serious title contender, but they still have some significant challenges ahead.

Most expect them to roll over the top of the struggling Tigers on Saturday night but the Storm and Rabbitohs will offer far sterner tests in the final two games of the regular season.

With props Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Matt Lodge leading the way up front and Tedesco typically elusive with nine tackle breaks, the Roosters turned an eight-point half-time lead into their 12th win of the season.

The Roosters needed just four minutes to open the scoring thanks to Joseph Suaalii, who had a saloon passage to the line courtesy of a long cut-out pass from Victor Radley.

Radley was in the thick of the action again in the 17th minute when he put Lodge over next to the posts with a good short ball and the Roosters led 10-0.

The Tricolours have now put a win between themselves and the ninth-placed Raiders, with skipper James Tedesco in fine touch as he led them to a comfortable win over Brisbane, who up until that result had been among the frontrunners to claim a top-four place.

The Cowboys were made to work for it against the Bulldogs last week, with a late double to Scott Drinkwater helping them to a win which keeps the slim chance of them jumping past Penrith for the minor premiership alive for the time being.