Sydney Roosters captain James Tedesco says his side have found a standard they need to stick to after dominating North Queensland on the road in a six try performance.
Tedesco's side ran amok on their way to a 28-4 victory in Townsville with their forward pack dominant and strike weapons on par as the Cowboys were outclassed and outgunned Saturday evening.
Joseph Manu had a hand in four of their six tries, while Tedesco led the way with 182 run metres, seven tackle busts and two try assists.
"That's sort of our standard tonight," he told AAP.
"We've got to hold ourselves to that standard, was a good bounce back from last week, but we need to continue that - it means nothing if we put another poor performance in next week."
On a night where the Cowboys had three players sent to the bin in separate incidents, the Roosters capitalised each time on their numerical advantage with their forwards dominating up the middle.
Four unanswered tries in the first half gave the visitors a healthy buffer at the break, before Manu struck early in the second and Daniel Tupou put the icing on the cake with 10 minutes to play.
Assistant coach Jason Ryles said their leadership was on show after a disrupted week with coach Trent Robinson in COVID-19 protocols and changes to their schedule.
"Not once did we have anyone complain or whinge, they just adapted and overcome it ... and they put in a performance like that," Ryles said.
After a slow start to the season, the Roosters were at their scintillating best and opened up a 20-0 lead by halftime.
Cowboys second-rower Tom Gilbert was sent to the bin in the 21st minute and although coach Todd Payten took aim at the sin bins post game, he said his side were well beaten by a motivated opponent.
"They (Roosters) jumped out of the blocks and started really fast," he told AAP.
"To play, what 30 minutes with 12 men and only concede the amount of points we did, I'm wrapped with the effort."
"...We're a different team and I think the belief only grew a little bit tonight."
Early on, Paul Momirovski plunged over from Daniel Tupou's bat down, before Manu was involved in their three next tries.
A set play on the Cowboys' 20m put Manu over from Tedesco's pass, with Manu then turning provider minutes later to find a rampaging Victor Radley for his first of the season.
The fourth came shortly after as Luke Keary's skip-pass to Manu got him outside his man to offload to 33-year-old Kevin Naiqama in his first NRL game for the Roosters after three years in the Super League.
Following Manu's early second-half score, Griffin Neame went to the bin in the 51st minute for a late shot on Sam Walker, before Chad Townsend became their third for a high shot on Lindsay Collins.
Murray Taulagi dotted down for a late consolation try but the Cowboys were well and truly outclassed by the Roosters who registered their second win of the season.
