Roosters roll on with fourth straight win

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Sydney Roosters v Brisbane Broncos

The Sydney Roosters have continued to solidify their place inside the top eight by downing the Brisbane Broncos 34-16 at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Temporarily moving into seventh position on the premiership ladder in the wake of their fourth straight win, the Roosters will fancy their chances of qualifying for a sixth consecutive finals series with games against North Queensland, Wests Tigers, Melbourne and South Sydney to come over the final month.

Beginning the match at a frenetic pace with three tries inside the opening quarter, the Roosters posted first points through Paul Momirovski (5th minute) after a shift down the left edge.

Taking the score out to double figures courtesy of Nat Butcher (9th minute) pouncing on an instinctive grubber from Sam Walker, the home side added a third try with Angus Crichton (16th minute) charging onto a pass from Luke Keary to effectively secure the result.

The Broncos managed to claw back the deficit with Corey Oates (20th minute) finishing off strong work by Ezra Mam and Kurt Capewell who drew in the Roosters defence.

In a stilted end to the first half, where both teams lacked finesse with the ball, the Broncos came closest to scoring with Kotoni Staggs held up over the line, leaving the Roosters ahead 18-4 at the break.

Coming out of the sheds determined to extinguish any hopes of a Broncos comeback, the Roosters established a 20-point buffer with Butcher (43rd minute) charging over the top of Mam to collect his second career double.

Making the most of a fortuitous ruling with Mam appearing to pass the ball at least a metre forward, Oates (59th minute) touched down to equal his personal best try-scoring tally in a season.

Having already set up two tries earlier in the evening, Keary (67th minute) collected one of his own by taking on the line with a dummy and run out wide.

Conceding a consolation four-pointer to Kurt Capewell (72nd minute) in the closing stages, the home side had the final say with James Tedesco producing a superb cut-out pass to send Joseph Suaalii (76th minute) over to close out the 34-16 victory. 

Next week, the Roosters will host the Cowboys on Saturday afternoon at the Sydney Cricket Ground, while the Broncos will return to Suncorp Stadium to take on the Knights later that same evening.