Captain Cordner guides Roosters home

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Sydney Roosters v Brisbane Broncos

A two-try performance from NSW and Roosters captain Boyd Cordner has seen the Tricolours emerge victorious 18-16 over Brisbane in a hard slog of a contest at Allianz Stadium.

Brisbane appeared to be dominant throughout the first half but it was the Roosters who struck first - a Joey Manu line break putting Michael Gordon in against the run of play. The Broncos answered back after more dominance in field position and possession, Benji Marshall crashing over the line after a clever run-around play which the Bunker cleared.

Scores level at 6-all, it looked as though on a wet Sydney night, both sides would struggle to post further points. This was true until just three minutes before the break when Cordner lumbered across the line to give the Tricolours a 6-point halftime lead.

The nature of the game meant that no points were scored after the break - the 12-6 scoreline remaining until Cordner's second try in the 70th minute. A grubber into Jordan Kahu's breadbasket was spilled and the captain picked up the scraps comfortably, extended the hosts' lead and seemingly securing victory.

Brisbane, however, had other ideas. Corey Oates, having been denied by Blake Ferguson earlier, was on the end of a Benji cut-out pass with six remaining and sliced through to reduce the margin. At 18-12 the Broncos weren't giving up and incredibly made it two tries in three minutes when Tautau Moga sliced through in a similar spot to Oates, albeit closer to the sideline.

Kahu's missed conversion was the deciding moment of the night - slicing away to the left and leaving the visitors dejected. A last set surge after the try almost delivered a miracle but Marshall's final grubber was too heavy, rolling dead and allowing the Roosters to come away with a hard-earned victory.

The win keeps the Roosters in the top four as they head to Campbelltown next weekend to face the Wests Tigers, while Brisbane head home to host South Sydney at Suncorp.