It wasn't the greatest performance but the Sydney Roosters did well to add much needed aggression to their performance in the second half to defeat the Newcastle Knights 29-12 at Allianz Stadium.
A sluggish opening half saw the Tricolours go in to the break behind 12-6 but a determined, simple and workman like performance in the second stanza saw the home side eventually cruise to victory.
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Shaun Kenny-Dowall were electric on the night while Mitchell Pearce expertly led the team around the field.
The debut of Willis Meehan was a highlight of the night, the young prop highlighting his incredible potential with a strong performance in the middle of the field.
Jeremy Smith opened the scoring, working his way between two defenders to touch down under the posts.
It wasn't long before the Tricolours hit back.
Flying winger Roger Tuivasa-Sheck was gifted a small amount of space in the middle of the field and given the fact he can score with no room he easily sliced through to level the scores.
The Tricolours gifted the visitors field position late in the first half and the Knights punished the home side crossing out wide through Mamo to lead by six at the break.
It was that man Tuivasa-Sheck that did the damage again at the start of the first half. The winger pounced on a loose ball and again stepped past the opposition to level the scores.
MItchell Pearce set up the Tricolours next as the defending premiers started to control the match.
Shaun Kenny-Dowall did extremely well to latch the ball out of the defenders hands in the air to put the home side in front for the first time.
The result then started to become clear as the Roosters big men completely dominated in the middle of the ruck.
After backing up to keep a play alive Friend then burrowed his way over as the dominance started to show on the scoreboard.
A late Maloney field goal secured the result, followed by a late try on the wing to Isaac Liu.
[CLICK HERE] to check out the Photo Gallery from tonight's win.
