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NRL scores: Roosters defeat Dragons with field goal, Storm come back against Warriors after slow start

Roosters teammates get around Luke Keary after he scored a try. He would also kick the game deciding field goal. (Getty Images: Mark Kolbe)

Luke Keary's boot has saved the Sydney Roosters and helped them survive a significant scare on Anzac Day, beating St George Illawarra 27-26 in a drama-charged clash.

Up 26-10 with 30 minutes to play, the Roosters all of a sudden appeared gone when Tyrell Sloan turned it on for the Dragons to help them level at 26-26.

The Red V then seemed favourites to win when Victor Radley was sin-binned for a high shot, after what initially appeared to be head-on-head contact with Michael Molo.

Radley's third sin-bin in three games prompted Roosters captain James Tedesco to accuse referee Adam Gee of bias, before the Tri-colours held firm without their lock.

Ashton Collier Medal recipient Keary then nailed the field goal with six minutes to play, in the first real test of the Roosters' new-look attack with Joey Manu in the halves.

The win did come at some cost though, with winger Daniel Tupou suffering a hamstring injury that could have serious ramifications for NSW and their State of Origin selections.

After a week of talk around Sam Walker's axing and Manu's move to the halves, the Roosters' attack looked the most fluent it has been all season in the first half.

Against a Dragons defence that was parting through the middle, Keary scored one try when he dummied his way over from close distance and Radley starred.

One came when the lock went to the line and put Egan Butcher through a hole for Tedesco to score, while Radley scored another off a great Jared Waerea-Hargreaves face ball.

Manu also justified his move to five-eighth and getting closer to the ball when he scored another four-pointer after the break, running the ball after a Keary pass on the last and dragging two over the line.

At that point it was 26-10 and it looked as if the Roosters would run away with it and put on a score.

Enter Sloan.

The fullback first stepped pass Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii and Keary and put on a flick pass for winger Tautau Moga to cross.

From the next set he put Moses Suli into a hole and then loomed up on the inside to step Jaxson Paulo and go in under the posts.

Moments later he handed off to Suli, who fended off two Roosters on the spot and found Moga to get the ball down for his third try.

Team stats

Sloan then missed a chance to take the lead for the Dragons when he couldn't collect a Talatau Amone grubberkick as he charged onto it close to the line.

But it was the experience of Keary and Joey Manu who came up with the winning play when the latter ran out of dummy-half, went back to his halfback and watched him knock over the field goal.

The result left the Dragons 13th on the ladder with two wins and five losses, as further pressure is heaped on off-contract coach Anthony Griffin.

Storm sees off Warriors after slow start

Nelson Asofa-Solomona has shown why he's in demand with the Storm giant turning the Anzac Day clash Melbourne's way in his first game back from injury.

Taking on the Warriors in their annual fixture at AAMI Park, the Storm surged home to secure a thrilling 30-22 victory to stretch the winning streak over their trans-Tasman rivals to 14 games.

The match was in the balance until star Storm hooker Harry Grant muscled over the line with four minutes remaining.

The Warriors loss was compounded by another knee injury to skipper Tohu Harris, who was assisted from the ground late in the first half.

They finished without any players on the bench, losing Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Bayley Sironen to head knocks and Jazz Tevaga to a possible Achilles injury.

The Warriors started strong, quickly erasing memories of last year's 60-point horror show to lead 18-6 with Jackson Ford, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Addin Fonua-Blake finding gaping holes in the Storm defence.

But the game changed in the 21st minute with prop Asofa-Solomona coming off the bench in his first match since suffering a knee injury in round two.

He immediately put the home side on the front foot with a series of barn-storming runs, the type that caught the eye of Wallabies coach Eddie Jones who is hoping to convince him to swap codes.

Team stats

Also in the sights of the big-spending Dolphins, the Kiwi international finished with 148-run metres from 14 runs and 20 tackles in his 59 minutes.

Cameron Munster, who booted a brilliant 40-20 to set up the Storm's first try scored by Justin Olam, then dived over himself in the 34th minute to close the gap to 18-12.

Warriors playmaker Dylan Walker was sin-binned and put on report for an alleged high shot that saw Storm back-rower Eli Katoa fail a HIA.

Despite being down a man the Warriors were first to score in the second half when Watene-Zelezniak collected his second, but that was all the visitors had to celebrate.

With the Warriors down on troops, the Storm roared back with fullback Nick Meaney taking full advantage of two kicks into the in-goal before Grant iced the win.

Fixtures

Ladder

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