If carnage was the order of the day without the ball, it was cruise control with it for the Chooks. Albeit with the all-too familiar fumbles that remain arguably the biggest question mark to an even bigger query, is this the year a team wins the premiership from outside the top four?

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When the Roosters are flying, with Walker and Suaalii in concert with Joey Manu and James Tedesco, they mount a compelling case for the prosecution.

Especially so when they’re doing their thing behind the brute force generated by Radley, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, mid-season signing Matt Lodge and the soon-to-return Siosiua Taukeiaho.

Even with Nathan Cleary twiddling his thumbs until finals, premiership front-runners Penrith and the resurgent North Queensland and Cronulla can of course argue just as compellingly for the defence.

Yet having entered 2022 alongside the Panthers as premiership favourites, the Roosters looked quite the part, finally, as they claimed their fourth straight win.

“I’ve played around with the team a bit this year to get better experiences, some have worked and some haven’t,” coach Trent Robinson said, stressing a complete 80-minute performance is still yet to be shown by his side this year.

“I felt like we dominated and played the way we wanted to play for 40-50 minutes there. On the field these guys are coaching each other to get better. We’ve got more in us. It’s not up to us as coaches though. We decide how we’re gonna play but it’s those guys on the field nailing it.”

The Roosters’ victory still only lifts them to seventh on the ladder. South Sydney can reclaim that slot by downing the Warriors on Saturday. The Raiders can even join Robinson’s outfit on 22 points if they upset Penrith.

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But with a Nat Butcher double coming either side of half-time and the Broncos only able to answer through an Oates double and a late Kurt Capewell salvo, the Roosters’ run is one that can’t be ignored.

So too, the lesson Brisbane were handed a month out from the finals, with back-to-back losses cause for concern rather than outright alarm.

“We’re still learning, they’ve got a pretty experienced team there,” coach Kevin Walters said.

“We’ll learn from tonight certainly, coaches included, about this time of the year. We’ve got the artillery there, it’s just a matter of getting it right.

“There’s plenty for us to get right, particularly our starts, they’ve been poor. Conceding points early is something we need to get out of our game if we want to be serious about where we want to go.”

The Roosters themselves have farewelled plenty of finals know-how in recent years and a tough lead-in to the post-season looms. Still, theirs is a run that looks bloody well-timed to say the least.

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