Roosters rope in crumbling Cowboys

v BYE

Allianz Stadium was the venue for an NRL boilover this afternoon, with the Sydney Roosters turning on the style to down reigning premiers North Queensland 22-10 in front of nearly 9,000 fans.

It was an early onslaught from the visiting Cowboys, Ethan Lowe crossing in the eighth minute after his side had earned back-to-back penalties.

The Roosters were staring down the barrel of the premiers hitting top gear but managed to halt the momentum of the opposition and score two tries between the 20th and 30th minute, putting the hosts in front 10-4, with Ryan Matterson and Shaun Kenny-Dowall the scorers.

Before halftime the home side was able to extend their lead to 16-4 when Boyd Cordner busted through and crossed, before a Mitchell Pearce field goal attempt was pushed wide just before the siren.

Any doubts over the Roosters ability to win the contest were dealt with ten minutes into the second half when Latrell Mitchell hit the afterburners, beating Lachlan Coote to the line and giving the hosts a 22-4 lead.

The Cowboys looked more likely in the remaining half-hour, crossing through Kane Linnett and peppering the Roosters' line multiple times but ultimately poor execution and silly errors undid any good work.

It means the Cowboys are now left with no wins from their last three matches - a close contest with the Storm followed by below-par showings in Sydney against the Wests Tigers and now Roosters - and they face a Warriors side in equally worrying form at 1300SMILES Stadium next Saturday night.

Meanwhile, the Roosters will be back at Allianz in the same timeslot next Sunday, hoping to continue their late-season form and shut down any lingering hopes of finals footy for the St George Illawarra Dragons.