The Sydney Roosters survived an epic second-half comeback from the Penrith Panthers to hold on for a gripping 10-8 win to claim the Downer Auckland Nines trophy for the first time.
Down by 10 points at the interval, Penrith hit back with two second-half tries and had a chance to send the game into extra time like they did in the quarter-finals, but Darren Nicholls hooked his conversion attempt.
Roosters 10 (Daniel Tupou, Bernard Lewis tries; 1 goal) def. Panthers 8 (Malakai Watene-Zelezniak, Nathan Cleary tries). Half-time: 10-0.
Meanwhile, Fiji Bati centre Waqa Blake led the Penrith Panthers into the NRL Auckland Nines grand final with two impressive tries against the Parramatta Eels in their semifinal match.
Panthers defeated Eels 13-0
Blake stepped through two Eels players before out‑sprinting Semi Radradra to the try line in his first try.
Any hopes of Parramatta going back‑to‑back were extinguished two minutes from full‑time when Blake scored the final try.
Meanwhile, Roosters beat Storm 21-16 in the second semifinal.
Source: NRL
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