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Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco says his side have found a standard they need to stick to after dominating North Queensland on the road in a six-try performance.
Tedesco’s side ran amok on their way to a 28-4 victory in Townsville, with their forward pack dominant and strike weapons on par, as the Cowboys were outclassed and outgunned throughout Saturday evening’s affair.
Joey Manu had a hand in four of the six, while Tedesco led the way with 182 run metres, seven tackle busts and two try assists.
“That’s sort of our standard tonight,” the captain told AAP after the match.
“We’ve got to hold ourselves to that standard. ]It] was a good bounce back from last week, but we need to continue that – it means nothing if we put another poor performance in next week.”
On a night where the Cowboys had three players sent to the bin in separate incidents, the Roosters capitalised each time on their numerical advantage with their forwards dominating up the middle.
Four unanswered tries in the first half gave the visitors a healthy buffer at the break, before Manu struck early in the second and Daniel Tupou put the icing on the cake with 10 minutes to play.
Assistant coach Jason Ryles said their leadership was on show after a disrupted week with coach Trent Robinson in COVID-19 protocols and changes to their schedule.
“Not once did we have anyone complain or whinge, they just adapted and overcome it… and they put in a performance like that,” Ryles said.
After a slow start to the season, the Roosters were at their scintillating best in Townsville as they sapped their opposition through the middle, allowing their backs free reign in the attacking quarter.
Their opening half tries resulted in a 20-0 lead at the break as Cowboy Tom Gilbert went to the bin in the 21st minute.
Early on, Paul Momirovski plunged over the line from Daniel Tupou’s bat-down, before Manu had a hand in their next three tries.
A set play on the Cowboys’ 20m line went to the right edge and Luke Keary cut-out to Tedesco, who passed above his head for Manu to score in the corner.
They were then in again four minutes later, this time Manu playing provider, angling across the defensive line to find a rampaging Victor Radley, who crashed through to score his first try of 2022.
The fourth came shortly after as Luke Keary’s skip-pass to Manu got him outside his man to offload to 33-year-old Kevin Naiqama, in his first game for the Roosters after three years in the Super League.
Following Manu’s early second-half score, Griffin Neame went to the bin in the 51st minute for a late shot on Sam Walker, before Chad Townsend became their third for a high shot on Lindsay Collins.
Murray Taulagi dotted down for a late consolation try for the Cowboys but they were well and truly outclassed by the Roosters who registered their second win of the season.
© AAP
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