Roosters v Tigers: Kootingal-Moonbi beat Manilla 40-16 | Group 4

At a miserably wet Manilla Showgrounds, the Roosters shone bright during a 19-minute period in the second half, when they posted four unanswered tries and got on a roll that put distance between them and their 52-22 first-round loss to Dungowan.

Conversely, the 40-16 final scoreline means Manilla are still searching for their first win in what is their first top-grade season in more than two decades.

A minute's silence was observed in honour of the country's Anzacs before the match began, and the contest was halted for a good number of minutes after Roosters centre Ryley Mackay suffered a suspected knee dislocation and an ambulance was called. Earlier, he scored a typically strong try when he hit the ball hard close to the tryline.

When the contest resumed, Kooty struck first when No 9 and captain Kurt Hartmann burrowed over from dummy half. It was his second try from a dummy-half dart. Sam Taylor failed the convert, the only time that happened in the match, and the visitors led 16-10 at half-time.

Manilla had drawn first blood after winger Dan Kaluza crossed out wide early in the encounter.

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The complexion of the match changed in the 50th minute when Taylor - an experienced and efficient No 7 - grubbered and second-rower Logan Howard pounced on the ball in-goal. Taylor converted: 22-10.

Eight minutes later, rookie No 6 Rhys Davis pierced the defence before linking with centre Liam Hatch, who did well to beat Tigers No 3 Tom Flanders and score. Taylor converted: 28-10.

The left edge was fertile ground for Kooty, with the damaging Howard splitting the defence in the 67th minute and linking with Hatch, who crossed for his second four-pointer: 34-10 after the conversion.

A short time later, the blitzkrieg ended when No 14 Jack Anderson flew down the left flank to score.

The Tigers - who lost 54-14 to Norths in round one - scored a late try through prop Beau Harry.

Hartmann said Kooty "did the simple things right" against Manilla, something they struggled to do against the Cowboys.

"Just getting back to the type of footy we have been playing, particularly at the end of last season," he said.

The side was "starting to gel quite well - and that's only gonna get better from here", he added.

ROOSTERS 40 (Kurt Hartman 2, Liam Hatch 2, Ryley Mackay, Logan Howard, Jack Anderson tries; Sam Taylor 6 goals) def TIGERS 16 (Dan Kaluza, Brad Flanders, Beau Harry tries; Liam Allan 2 goals).

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