NRL Anzac Day LIVE: Storm pour more misery on Souths; Roosters demolish Dragons

Sam Walker returned from concussion to leave St George Illawarra nursing their own giant Anzac Day headache.

The Roosters thumped the Dragons 60-18 with Walker finishing with a personal haul of 24 points.

He scored a try, while his right boot set-up another three.

The Roosters were way too good for the Dragons, with Joey Manu bagging a double. Credit: Getty Images

Joseph Suaalii also outplayed Zac Lomax in an unofficial NSW Origin wing audition, including a late try, his first since round 26 last year.

The Roosters needed that one. They were not awful against the Storm last week, will not get too carried away with Thursday’s triumph, and face a real acid test next Friday against the Broncos.

The Dragons lost Moses Suli to concussion in the first play of the game.

They did produce the best try of the afternoon, which started with some Lomax magic, and with Jaydn Su’a storming on to a Jack Bird short ball.

They were gassed before half-time, and despite enjoying all the ball straight after the break, were never going to reel in their rivals.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson on Sam Walker: “It was great to watch him go out there. I thought Brandon [Smith], Sam, Kez [Luke Keary] and ‘Teddy’ [James Tedesco] drove the team in the system, and the freedom comes on the back of that.

“Sam does that to us every day when we train. If a fullback comes into the line, he’ll pull you apart.

“It was great to see him do that. Plus also the goal-kicking, it’s such a key part of that as well.

“He sees the game slightly differently.“

Dragons coach Shane Flanagan: “I couldn’t wait until it finished, to be honest. We didn’t start too badly. Then we tried to make some stuff up. That pass from Zac [Lomax] and they scored, then they scored quickly again. We came back down to earth with a thud.”

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