The Roosters upset the Storm in the NRL grand final, The All Blacks win another Rugby Championship title while Europe embarrass team USA in Golf's Ryder cup.
Ex-Melbourne halfback Cooper Cronk defied injury to steer the Sydney Roosters to a stunning 21-6 NRL grand final win over the Storm in Sydney tonight.
Cronk saw little of the football as he successfully nursed a rotator cuff injury through the 80 minutes while his halves partner Luke Keary wonthe Clive Churchill Medal after stepping up to lead their attack and booting a second-half field goal in the three-tries-to-one victory at ANZ Stadium.
The result saw the Roosters end the Storm's quest to be the first team in a quarter of a century to win consecutive premierships and deny retiring Melbourne fullback Billy Slater a fairy tale finish to his career following a week of controversy after he escaped suspension for a shoulder charge in last week's win over Cronulla.
The victory gave the Roosters their first grand final win since 2013 and made Cronk the first player to win back-to-back titles at two different clubs since Johnny Mayes enjoyed premiership wins with Manly and Easts in 1973-74.
Slater paid tribute to his good friend and former teammate's resilience while lamenting what might have been.
First-half tries to backline trio Daniel Tupou, Latrell Mitchell and Joseph Manu saw the Roosters make a mockery of pre-game predictions of a tight contest and all but seal the result with an 18-0 halftime lead.
Melbourne continued to struggle in the second-half before left wing Josh Addo-Carr stole an intercept to race 80 metres to score their first points of the night inside the last quarter before Keary's 68th minute field goal put the Roosters three scores clear.
Billy Slater finished his career with a loss in the grand final. Photo / Getty
The match finished in controversy when Melbourne five-eighth Cameron Munster was sinbinned for the second time in the match with the resulting penalty allowing Mitchell to boot his fourth goal of the night.
Munster was placed on report after he kicked Manu in the head and a suspension could cost him a spot in the Kangaroos side for upcoming end of year tests against New Zealand and Tonga.
The Roosters attacked early on but had to settle for a 2-0 lead from a Mitchell penalty goal before Tupou scored down the left off a wide cut-out pass from Keary in the seventh minute.
Melbourne's star-studded side had no answer and their right-side defence cracked again when Mitchell dived over for the Roosters' second four-pointer to make it 12-0 before the end of the first quarter.
The Storm's struggles continued when Munster was marched for the first time for a professional foul on Roosters' co-captain Jake Friend with Mitchell extending the lead off the boot before Manu crossed for their third try four minutes before the break.
The Roosters maintained the pressure following the resumption with wing Blake Ferguson denied a try after putting a foot into touch and Munster was denied a try for Melbourne due to obstruction from Nelson Asofa-Solomona.
The Storm finally got on the board with Addo-Carr going long range against the run of play but a comeback never looked likely before Keary and Mitchell both kicked the Roosters clear.
"It's so good. We started so good that first half, I don't think we've played a better half of footy," said victorious Rooster co-captain Boyd Cordner.
"We just hung in there in the second-half. They had a bit of the run (of play) and we expected them to. But how good is this. This is why we play footy, it's the best ever."
