{"id":140287,"date":"2025-09-13T13:57:18","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T13:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140287\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T13:57:18","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T13:57:18","slug":"nrl-finals-week-1-2025-the-mole-player-ratings-cronulla-sharks-vs-sydney-roosters-elimination-final-victor-radley-looked-tired-while-braydon-trindall-stars-in-halves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/140287\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL Finals Week 1 2025 The Mole player ratings, Cronulla Sharks vs Sydney Roosters elimination final; Victor Radley ‘looked tired’ while Braydon Trindall stars in halves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cronulla have caused the first upset of this year’s NRL finals series, knocking out the Roosters in a dramatic elimination clash at Shark Park.<\/p>\n

Braydon Trindall produced a quality performance in the No.6 jumper after returning from an ankle injury, while one of his brash teammates enjoyed the bright lights.<\/p>\n

For the losers, one experienced player’s tough season came to a bitter end, while the form of James Tedesco wasn’t enough to lift them into week two.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Mulitalo fires shot at rival as Sharks cause finals upset<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Warriors skipper ‘outgunned’ in battle with ex-teammates<\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE: Dubious call haunts brave Warriors as premiers advance<\/a><\/p>\n

The Mole rates every player’s performance below.<\/p>\n

CRONULLA SHARKS<\/p>\n

1. William Kennedy<\/p>\n

Quiet in attack but safe under the intense pressure the Roosters kickers applied to him. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Will Kennedy\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

2. Sione Katoa<\/p>\n

Did a great job handling the bigger and stronger Tupou, beating him to the high ball on several occasions. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

3. Jesse Ramien<\/p>\n

Had limited chances in the red zone but pulled off some big hits in defence on the Roosters’ wide men. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

4. KL Iro<\/p>\n

Ran strongly without being able to find open space in a tight, hard-fought battle out wide. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

5. Ronaldo Mulitalo<\/p>\n

Had a fascinating battle with Nawaqanitawase, scoring two tries but letting one in. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

\"Ronaldo<\/p>\n

Ronaldo Mulitalo\u00a0Darrian Traynor via Getty Images<\/p>\n

6. Braydon Trindall<\/p>\n

The most dangerous attacking player on the field, creating two tries that proved the difference between the teams. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

7. Nicho Hynes<\/p>\n

Left the big plays up to Trindall in attack but was great with his goalkicking under intense finals pressure. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

8. Addin Fonua-Blake<\/p>\n

Powered his way to 130 running metres but in a dour game, didn’t do too much damage up front. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

9. Blayke Brailey<\/p>\n

Led the Sharks well, topped the tackle count, bringing up his 1000th tackle along the way, and set up the try that sealed victory. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

10. Toby Rudolf<\/p>\n

The big man shocked the Roosters with four minutes left on the clock, scoring a powerhouse try to secure victory. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

11. Billy Burns<\/p>\n

One of the few Sharks playing his first final, got through 68 minutes and will be better for the experience. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

12. Teig Wilton<\/p>\n

Played the full 80 minutes yet made just 52 metres – it was just that sort of game. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

13. Jesse Colquhoun<\/p>\n

Developing into a fine No.13, doing plenty of work with and without the ball. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

14. Oregon Kaufusi<\/p>\n

Kept the Sharks on a roll when he got 26 minutes off the bench, producing an error-free display. Rating: 5.5<\/p>\n

15. Siosifa Talakai<\/p>\n

Came close to scoring a try in his late cameo but was denied by desperate Roosters defence. Rating: 4<\/p>\n

17. Braden Hamlin-Uele<\/p>\n

Big and strong, he held up the middle when given his chance by his coach. Rating: 5<\/p>\n

21. Briton Nikora<\/p>\n

After a month without footy, got the last 20 minutes and will be better for it as far as conditioning goes. Rating: 4.5<\/p>\n

Watch the 2025 NRL premiership live and free on Nine and 9Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SYDNEY ROOSTERS<\/p>\n

1. James Tedesco<\/p>\n

Not as dominant as he has been all season, but still prominent with nearly 200 run metres and a try assist. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

2. Daniel Tupou<\/p>\n

Ran for over 120 metres but wasn’t the threat in the air he has been in recent weeks. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

3. Billy Smith<\/p>\n

Errors killed the Roosters and he was one of the worst offenders, throwing one pass to the touch judge and giving away a dumb penalty. Rating: 5<\/p>\n

4. Robert Toia<\/p>\n

A mixed performance with a couple of line breaks and 150 metres but two mistakes at crucial times. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

5. Mark Nawaqanitawase<\/p>\n

Had Ronaldo in his face all night, but still scored his customary try with a wonerful change of pace and took some superb high marks. Rating: 8<\/p>\n

6. Hugo Savala<\/p>\n

Felt his way through his first finals appearance, making just three runs but kicking well. Rating: 6<\/p>\n

7. Sam Walker<\/p>\n

The Roosters’ main man was kept in check by the Sharks defence, who restricted him to one try assist. Rating: 6.5<\/p>\n

8. Spencer Leniu<\/p>\n

The Roosters enforcer was down on his usual aggressive game with just eight runs for 58 metres. Rating: 5.5<\/p>\n

9. Connor Watson<\/p>\n

Down on his running game, making just two bursts out of dummy-half for a paltry six metres. Rating: 5<\/p>\n

10. Lindsay Collins<\/p>\n

Tried hard, topped the tackle count but couldn’t get on top of the enthusiastic Sharks pack in the middle exchanges. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

11. Angus Crichton<\/p>\n

The Roosters’ most dangerous forward, scoring his 50th career try and threatening on several occasions. Rating: 7.5<\/p>\n

12. Victor Radley<\/p>\n

Looked tired after a long season that featured several concussions, making less than 50 metres with the ball. Rating: 5<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Victor Radley\u00a0Getty<\/p>\n

13. Naufahu Whyte<\/p>\n

Another Rooster who came into the game in great form, only to be shut down by the Sharks’ big men. Rating: 5.5<\/p>\n

14. Benaiah Ioelu<\/p>\n

Did little better than Watson out of dummy-half, with two runs for nine metres. Rating: 4<\/p>\n

15. Egan Butcher<\/p>\n

The pick of the Roosters’ bench men, bringing plenty of enthusiasm when he got his chance. Rating: 7<\/p>\n

16. Blake Steep<\/p>\n

One of many Roosters in his first final who seemed to suffer from stage fright, contributing very little. Rating: 4<\/p>\n

17. Siua Wong<\/p>\n

Barely noticed in his 32 minutes of game time – the team needed more from him. Rating: 4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Cronulla have caused the first upset of this year’s NRL finals series, knocking out the Roosters in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140288,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-140287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140288"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}