OFT-maligned centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall last night became the first Rooster in 35 years to score four tries in a match as Brisbane Broncos legend Darren Lockyer declared the Bondi club a "genuine chance" for this year's NRL premiership title.
In an extraordinary match at Suncorp Stadium, the Sydney Roosters rumbled into third place on the ladder with a 34-30 win over Brisbane.
The Roosters led 28-6 early in the second half before Brisbane scored four tries in 15 minutes to reclaim the lead with 10 minutes remaining.
But it was New Zealander Kenny-Dowall who scored the match-winner in the 74th minute to move the Roosters to 26 competition points. He was the first Roosters player to score four tries since former Easts halfback Johnny Mayes achieved the feat in 1975, a season they won the competition under coach Jack Gibson.
While Kenny-Dowall scored the tries, it was Roosters halfback Todd Carney, replacing the injured Mitchell Pearce, who initiated virtually everything last night.
Carney scored a try and set up four more.
"Outstanding, I am really happy to score four tries," Kenny-Dowall said at fulltime.
"Todd has been on fire. When he has the ball, I just try and run some lines. We are working well together."
The Roosters' attack was magic at times, while their forwards are big and mobile.
Lockyer rates the Roosters highly, saying: "I think they are the benchmark [in the NRL] with their attack. They play an up-tempo game.
"They could do better defensively but I think they are a genuine chance."
The Roosters' body language looked bad after Brisbane scored a controversial try in the 70th minute to take the lead.
The try was awarded despite replays showing centre Israel Folau dropping the ball over the line before it was grounded by Nick Kenny. In the end it didn't matter.
The Roosters would not be denied and somehow found another ounce of energy to score the match-winner in what was a fast and expansive game of rugby league.
"We had to dig deeper and we found it," said Roosters coach Brian Smith. "The composure, the fightback, all great signs.
"It is incredible we have done it two weeks in a row [after a fightback against Canterbury last weekend] by showing poise under pressure. It was magic."
Asked about Brisbane's comeback, Roosters forward Jason Ryles said: "You could feel the momentum swing.
"They were pretty daunting there for a 10-minute period with Peter Wallace, Darren Lockyer and Israel Folau. We failed ourselves in a couple of areas but we hung in to win."
Carney scored his side's first try by spinning out of three defenders before setting up try after try.
He sliced through the middle for Kenny-Dowall's first try and then delivered a brilliant short pass which led to Kenny-Dowall's second try.
The Roosters will have to battle on for a few weeks without prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who suffered a calf injury last night.
The victory sets up a massive match against Parramatta on Saturday night at Parramatta Stadium.
Brisbane did exceedingly well to fight their way back but their first 50 minutes were lazy and substandard. Defeat pushes them out of the top eight.
"We showed some fight but, being realistic, we didn't deserve to win," Broncos coach Ivan Henjak said.
"We were good in patches to get back into the game but they deserved to win. We got in front and it would have been nice to steal the game but, to be realistic, we would have got out of jail had we won."
-Dean Ritchie
