The Sydney Roosters have avenged last year's bitter finals exit to the Rabbitohs by claiming a 20-18 win over their arch rivals.

In Friday night's earlier match, the Dolphins stayed undefeated in their debut NRL season with a 36-20 victory over the Knights in Newcastle.

In their first meeting since last September's finals encounter that included a record seven sin-bin offences, the Roosters had to dig deep against the Rabbitohs, overturning a 10-0 deficit at the Sydney Football Stadium to claim a gusty victory.

The introduction of veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and hooker Brandon Smith midway through the first half turned the tide for the Roosters, who put in their best performance of the season so far.

Referee Gerard Sutton controlled the contest well and it was not until the last five minutes when he was forced to send players to the sin-bin after a fracas involving Roosters centre Joey Manu and the Rabbitohs' Michael Chee Kam.

Fullback Latrell Mitchell, who was playing just over a week since he was the victim of racial abuse during the Rabbitohs' round-two match against Penrith, had flashes of brilliance despite being booed throughout the encounter.

It could not have started much worse for the Rabbitohs after they lost prop Hame Sele to a head injury assessment in the opening minute.

But despite the early setback, the Rabbitohs were able to hit the lead with Lachlan Ilias sending Keaon Kololoamatangi over after eight minutes.

Mitchell had been relatively quiet up until the moment and burst into life, darting down the left-hand side and sending a cut-out pass to Alex Johnston to dive in at the corner.

The Rabbitohs looked good value for their early advantage, but the Roosters received a shot in the arm when coach Trent Robinson turned to his bench in the 25th minute and sent on Waerea-Hargreaves and Smith.

Waerea-Hargreaves played like a man possessed and Smith was able to fire off the back of that go-forward as he darted over for his try as a Roosters player with five minutes left in the half.

It suddenly began to click for the Roosters and they made up for lost time with Luke Keary chipping out wide for an unmarked Daniel Tupou to score and draw them level.

A Mitchell penalty on the stroke of half-time gave the Rabbitohs a 12-10 lead at the break but when Campbell Graham butchered a two-on-one with Izaac Thompson, the Roosters hit back.

Former Rabbitohs winger Jaxson Paulo shimmied his way over the line from close range five minutes into a tense second half.

Paulo added a second with 15 minutes left but the Rabbitohs left their run too late, with Thompson's try in the final minute flattering them and coming when both sides had been reduced to 12 players.

Dolphins stay unbeaten

The Dolphins have set the scene for a heavyweight first clash with Brisbane after continuing their perfect start to life in the NRL.

Wayne Bennett's troops made it three-from-three to start their maiden season, as they came out on top of a see-sawing clash in Newcastle.

The Knights were gutsy, despite having nine players out and three debutants on the bench, while prop Daniel Saifiti sustained a shoulder injury to add to their woes.

Halfback Jackson Hastings also ended the match off the field for a concussion check, after earlier combining nicely with Lachlan Miller and Tyson Gamble.

The Knights twice fought back valiantly, providing the try of the night to go ahead 16-14 early in the second half when Bradman Best and Gamble combined from a 20-metre tap and Miller went 70 metres to score untouched.

But ultimately their lack of experience showed, as the hosts faded with Hastings off the field after a late hit from Felise Kaufusi and Kalyn Ponga out indefinitely through concussion.

It means next Friday's historic encounter between the Dolphins and Brisbane will be close to a top-of-the-ladder battle, with the Broncos also entering this weekend unbeaten.

Former Bronco Tesi Niu bagged three tries as the Dolphins troubled the Knights down the left edge while containing the dangerous Dom Young nicely.

Niu's former Brisbane teammate Jamayne Isaako scored the match-sealing try, after another ex-Bronco, Brenko Lee, put him into space with the Dolphins down to 12 players after Kaufusi was sin-binned for his late shot.

Tom Gilbert was also impressive, running 153 metres and making 38 tackles as the workhorse of the Dolphins' middle.

The Dolphins dominated the early stages, with two of Niu's tries in the first half the result of slick passes from his centre Euan Aitken.

Kodi Nikorima also claimed a four-pointer before the break when he went over from dummy half.

But the Knights were able to keep the margin to four points through tries to Gamble and Miller.

Both came from nice lead-up work, with Miller's particularly impressive when he laid on a short ball for Lachlan Fitzgibbon and wrapped around the outside in support to score.

Miller's 70-metre burst for his second was equally delightful after the break, but from there it fell apart for the Knights.

Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow swooped on a loose ball after a Connelly Lemuelu bust, Niu claimed his third on the left wing and Isaako bagged a late double on the right as the Dolphins ran away with the match.

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