The Illawarra Steelers fell to the Sydney Roosters 36-26 in the Harold Matthews Cup Preliminary Final clash at Leichhardt Oval on Anzac Day.
A first-half Preston Sager hat-trick kept the Steelers in it going into the break before a fast start to the second stanza had them in a strong position.
A late Roosters flurry sealed the Steelers fate however as they stormed towards a drought-breaking Grand Final appearance.
It marked the end of another successful season for the Steelers despite falling just short of their first Grand Final appearance in the competition since 2011.
Match: Steelers v Roosters
Finals Week 3 -
home Team
Steelers
away Team
Roosters
Venue: Leichhardt Oval, Sydney
The Roosters took advantage of an early Steelers error to draw first blood with Tai Skipps slicing through a hole off a Charlie Webb short ball to make it 6-0.
The Steelers found a hit-back just moments later through Sager who was the beneficiary of a spilt Tyler Lewis bomb in the left-hand corner.
Sager wasted no time carving his name onto the scoresheet a second time spinning his way to the stripe off the back of a swift Destin Tausala offload.
The Tricolours were able to tie things up 19 minutes in with Marquis Sando going over off a crash play to the right of the sticks to continue what was a seesawing opening half.
A Steelers yardage error handed the Roosters the lead the just moments later with fullback Harper Boothroyd sweeping his way to the line down the right-hand corridor.
Skipps nabbed his second five minutes out from the intermission as Boothroyd again proved a handful, poking his nose through the line, and crafting an offload to his supporting back-rower.
Sager found a needed try for Illawarra – his third of the opening stanza – on the stroke of half-time off another pinpoint Lewis kick to cut the deficit back to just two.
The first points of the second half belonged to the Steelers with Kahui Chase slipping over out of dummy-half to put his side back on top.
The Steelers surged further ahead just minutes later with skipper Asher Chapman taking in a perfect Fletcher Couchman offload and using his pace to race away 60-plus metres untouched and dive over for a fantastic four-pointer.
Harold Matthews Cup Preliminary Final Highlights: Steelers vs. Roosters
The Roosters managed a key try 45 minutes in Levi Scarlett taking in a Samuel Large cut-out to stroll over in the right-hand corner and bring it back to 26-24.
They got their noses back in front with eight minutes remaining as Andy Toia burst through off a nice Boothroyd delivery.
The Roosters were able to ice it just moments before the siren sounded with Amaziah Pritchard scurrying over in the left-hand corner to send his teammates into party mode.
