NRL finals 2026 LIVE updates: Sydney Roosters v Cronulla Sharks scores, tickets, schedule, time, how to watch
The Roosters are “confident” Sam Walker will return from injury alongside veteran Daly Cherry-Evans in his storybook showdown with the Dolphins after the Tricolours first outmuscled, then outgunned Cronulla 46-10 at Allianz Stadium.
The Sharks lost their own million-dollar No.7 Nicho Hynes within 90 seconds to a head knock and conceded the first try of the evening just two tackles later.
But even with centre Mawene Hiroti (knee) also ruled out of the contest when he collided with the advertising boarding, reducing Cronulla to 15 fit players for an hour, Craig Fitzgibbon’s side hardly wilted.
Instead, it took another piece of out-and-out Mark Nawaqanitawase magic to truly spark the Tricolours, along with a superb solo act from Cherry-Evans himself to ensure neither departing Rooster was playing their last game for the club.
As is the way when this star-studded side is on a roll, the rugby-bound Nawaqanitawase finished with a double. Cherry-Evans helped himself to three try assists.
The Redcliffe-based Dolphins and a sold-out Suncorp Stadium in next Friday night’s grand final qualifier now await.
It is a tantalising scene on so many levels. Not least because Cherry-Evans, 37 and now playing every game because it can well and truly be his last on Australian soil, took his first furtive steps in rugby league as an eight-year-old for Redcliffe almost 30 years ago, where his dad and uncle both played as well.
With another week to heal from the syndesmosis surgery that was feared to have ended his season, superstar No.7 Walker will do everything in his power to play as well.
“I’m pretty confident with what I’ve seen,” Robinson said of Walker, who is eyeing a four-week return in the preliminary final.
“He’s had really good progression, but we’ll get a good gauge on Monday or Tuesday.
In front of 39,147 at a heaving Allianz Stadium, the Roosters held an 18-10 half-time lead, yet two ugly unforced errors after the break set a tone Roosters fans know and fear all too well.
Enter Nawaqanitawase. With the kind of audacious flick pass he produces so often it is somehow in danger of becoming ho-hum, he and Rob Toia set in motion a rambunctious try that went through several sets of hands before Connor Watson dived over.
“It’s been probably five to six weeks since I’ve seen us flick the ball and pass the ball and that’s a signature of ours when we’re humming,” Robinson said. That was a big play in the context of our game.”
The coach wasn’t wrong. This was the four-pointer that truly gave the Roosters breathing room. Cherry-Evans’ 27th-minute stepping, swivelling effort from close-range didn’t hurt either.
Not when Braydon Trindall and Blayke Brailey had threatened enough through the ruck to engineer two Sharks tries in three minutes, even without Cronulla’s recognised halfback.
Even after Watson’s try, the Sharks kept coming. A tight, but technically correct double movement call denied Teig Wilton. A desperate try-saving tackle from Billy Smith shot down Trindall when the line beckoned.
And then, the Roosters weren’t just coming. They were gone. Cherry-Evans set up a couple. He was placed on report for tripping Wilton but won’t face anything more than a fine. Skipper James Tedesco joined the party after making 11 tackle breaks, as did Rob Toia after his own excellent outing.
Watson and Reece Robson were fantastic through the middle too, while the Sharks didn’t deserve to have so many points put on them or have their season end so brutally.
Cherry-Evans knows all too well he’s every chance of not getting his ultimate farewell premiership fairytale either.
But a showdown with the Dolphins – where it all started for him three decades ago – isn’t a bad place to start next Friday.
