Roosters outmuscle Warriors in rain-soaked NRL contest

The Sydney Roosters have shut out the Warriors as points were at a premium in a hard-fought 14-0 NRL win at a rain-lashed Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.

But rumblings of refereeing inconsistencies against the Warriors aren't going anywhere after a crucial try by Sitili Tupouniua came after the interchange forward looked to have committed an unpunished shoulder charge in the previous set.

It would have been cold comfort for the 20,000-strong crowd that the try was set up and scored by two players who grew up in Auckland, hooker Brandon Smith putting a perfect kick along the slippery deck for Tupouniua to dive on under the posts in the 59th minute.

Rugby union-bound Joseph Suaalii added the simple goal to make it a three-score lead that the Roosters were always going to be too good to give up.

Before that, the Roosters were simply committed to grinding the home side out of the game with a no-nonsense approach to wet weather football. 

It wasn't perfect as their completion rate dipped below 75 per cent and they were on the wrong side of the possession stakes, but intelligent kicking by Luke Keary, makeshift five eighth Joseph Manu and Smith saw the Warriors constantly pinned in their own half.

And it was the Roosters' defence that won them the match, making just under 400 tackles and frustrating the in-form Warriors into handling errors at key points.

There should have been a Warriors try in the first half after a Shaun Johnson kick bounced into Adam Pompey's hands, but the centre couldn't hold on to the ball with the line open.

Johnson was guilty of making an error off a goal-line restart for the second game in a row, handing Sualii an easy penalty to open the scoring in the fourth minute. 

From there the game turned into an arm wrestle in the consistently heavy rain before Nat Butcher muscled over for the Roosters six minutes before the break to make the score 8-0.

For the first time this season it felt like the Warriors' effort significantly dropped off towards the end, failing to score in a game for the first time since September 2021. 

It is the second time the Roosters have beaten the Warriors this season after a 20-12 win in Sydney in round two.

Both teams head to Brisbane next weekend for the NRL Magic Round, with the Roosters taking on struggling North Queensland.

The Warriors face another team coming off a shock loss in the rain, with the defending premiers Penrith looking to bounce back after being humbled 12-8 by Wests Tigers in Bathurst.