Roosters defeat Cowboys in NRL comeback

Jul 29, 2017 - 12:38 PM The Sydney Roosters have reclaimed second spot on the NRL ladder with a stirring 22-16 comeback win over North Queensland on Saturday night at Allianz Stadium.

The Roosters were down 16-6 - their biggest halftime deficit of the season - when Daniel Tupou scored soon after the resumption.

The try sparked a Roosters onslaught on both sides of the field, with bench forwards Sio Siua Taukeiaho and Zane Tetevano particularly damaging down the middle of the field.

Taukeiaho was rewarded for his efforts when he barged over from close range to level the scores, before Luke Keary beat a tiring defence for the go-ahead points in the 61st minute.

Latrell Mitchell sealed the win six minutes later with a penalty goal.

The second-half fightback was even more impressive given they are without key men Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend and Michael Gordon.

Taukeiaho finished with 200m in just 40 minutes of play, while the Roosters as a whole were a flawless 20 from 20 sets in the second half.

The win lifts the Roosters over Cronulla and within two points of ladder leaders Melbourne, who meet Manly in a crunch match on Sunday.

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson was pleased with the way his team seized the initiative in the second period after an ill-disciplined opening to the match.

"It took a pretty impressive second half from us to beat them," he said post-game.

"We had a couple of guys feel the momentum, and they decided to do something about it, which is really pleasing for this time of the year.

"Started with Mitchell Aubusson, (Blake Ferguson) came three in off his wing to make a difference and then the whole team followed suit for about 10-15 minutes there.

"It's been a while since I've seen that so that was pretty impressive."

The defeat for the Cowboys, who could've leapfrogged the Roosters into fourth spot, ended a four-game winning run without champion playmaker Johnathan Thurston.

Cowboys coach Paul Green conceded they were outmuscled out of the contest.

"We probably just had to hang on for one more set. Once they got that try we probably didn't respond well enough off the back of that," he said.

"There was just that period through the second half where physically they just got on top and we hung in there well but just couldn't quite hang in there long enough."

The Roosters started strongly when centre Mitchell burned four players on a 60m sideline run in the third minute.

But the Cowboys showed their premiership mettle with the final three tries of the half - the first two set up by Lachlan Coote on well-executed set plays.

The Cowboys took a 10-point lead into halftime when Coen Hess powered over for a dubious close-range try in the 32nd minute.

Source: AAP