The young Roosters were outstanding in their first hit-out of the 2018 pre-season, with a monster second half sealing a 28-16 win over the Penrith Panthers.
It was a nice start for the young Roosters who were passing the ball crisply and holding the line firm in the opening minutes.
They would also be the first to score in the game through Adam Pompey, finding some space on the left edge and planting the ball down.
Just minutes later and the scores were levelled when Panthers second rower Alexander Myles found an inch of space in the middle to put it down just wide of the uprights.
A bit of back-and-forth ensued for the two sides before Jackson Frei arrived to put the Roosters in-front on the back of a money short ball.
Big Panthers prop Ben Cartwright barged his way over just a minute shy of the siren to bring it back to a level scoreline at the break.
The sides swapped over at the break, but the Roosters weren’t effected on their form.
Big prop Miller Leilua took three defenders with him to barge his way over the line directly next to the uprights to put the Roosters into the lead.
The next try was an athletic effort from the Roosters, when a grubber was smacked back into the in-goal for Fletcher Baker.
After the Panthers fullback failed to clean up a grubber from his own in-goal, Justin Lane cleaned it up for the Roosters and planted it down to give his side a comfortable lead.
The Panthers came back with a late try through Zac Ryan on the left side of the field, but it would not spark a comeback.
TRIES: Adam Pompey, Jackson Frei, Miller Leilua, Fletcher Baker and Justin Lane.
