In arguably the grittiest victory of the season, the Roosters have made it two from two against the Bulldogs in 2013, winning 20-18 at ANZ Stadium.
With three origin stars watching from the sidelines the Roosters didn't miss a beat all night and looked totally in control from start to finish.
The usual sturdy defence that has been questioned in recent weeks, reared it's beautiful head, as the Tricolours used a mixture of aggressive line speed and brilliant cover defence to ensure the victory.
All season everyone knew the Origin period would be Daniel Mortimer's chance to step up in the halves and tonight he somehow managed to exceed those expectations.
Mortimer was the leading hand in all but one of the Tricolour tries as he brilliantly marshalled the team around the paddock.
You would presume Sonny-Bill Williams would block out the predictable chorus of boos that met him every time he touched the ball. Yet funnily it seemed as though he embraced it out in the middle, turning in another brilliant performance.
For a second week in a row big Frank-Paul Nuuasala was devastating in attack, constantly bending the Dogs defence backwards, creating frequent fast play the ball opportunities.
In the end though it was doubles for both Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Boyd Cordner that sealed a memorable result for the Bondi boys
A well timed pass from Daniel Mortimer opened the scoring, setting up space for Anthony Minichiello and he shifted the ball out to Kenny-Dowall and the Kiwi centre did the rest, changing direction too fast for Barba to register the opening points of the game.
It was a good old fashioned grind for the next period of the game until Ben Barba simply outpaced the Tricolour defence on the line to put the home side up by two.
Confirming a great start to the game, Mortimer threw a beautiful pass which found Boyd Cordner who faded to the outside of his defender and strolled through a massive gap to make it 10-6.
A risky offload from SBW found Tuivasa-Sheck in space after the break and the young winger moved like only he can, beating three defenders before offloading to Kenny-Dowall, who simply had to touch down for his second.
After a period of incredible defence, it was again the Mortimer and Cordner show, as the halfback produced another great pass for Cordner to claim a rare double.
Somewhat against the run of play, a great face ball deep on the Roosters line set up Halatau to put the Dogs back within eight.
A late Inu try was merely a consolation as the Tricolours held on for a gritty win.
With three origin stars watching from the sidelines the Roosters didn't miss a beat all night and looked totally in control from start to finish.
The usual sturdy defence that has been questioned in recent weeks, reared it's beautiful head, as the Tricolours used a mixture of aggressive line speed and brilliant cover defence to ensure the victory.
All season everyone knew the Origin period would be Daniel Mortimer's chance to step up in the halves and tonight he somehow managed to exceed those expectations.
Mortimer was the leading hand in all but one of the Tricolour tries as he brilliantly marshalled the team around the paddock.
You would presume Sonny-Bill Williams would block out the predictable chorus of boos that met him every time he touched the ball. Yet funnily it seemed as though he embraced it out in the middle, turning in another brilliant performance.
For a second week in a row big Frank-Paul Nuuasala was devastating in attack, constantly bending the Dogs defence backwards, creating frequent fast play the ball opportunities.
In the end though it was doubles for both Shaun Kenny-Dowall and Boyd Cordner that sealed a memorable result for the Bondi boys
A well timed pass from Daniel Mortimer opened the scoring, setting up space for Anthony Minichiello and he shifted the ball out to Kenny-Dowall and the Kiwi centre did the rest, changing direction too fast for Barba to register the opening points of the game.
It was a good old fashioned grind for the next period of the game until Ben Barba simply outpaced the Tricolour defence on the line to put the home side up by two.
Confirming a great start to the game, Mortimer threw a beautiful pass which found Boyd Cordner who faded to the outside of his defender and strolled through a massive gap to make it 10-6.
A risky offload from SBW found Tuivasa-Sheck in space after the break and the young winger moved like only he can, beating three defenders before offloading to Kenny-Dowall, who simply had to touch down for his second.
After a period of incredible defence, it was again the Mortimer and Cordner show, as the halfback produced another great pass for Cordner to claim a rare double.
Somewhat against the run of play, a great face ball deep on the Roosters line set up Halatau to put the Dogs back within eight.
A late Inu try was merely a consolation as the Tricolours held on for a gritty win.
