The Sydney Roosters edged into the NRL top eight after steam-rolling the Melbourne Storm 38-6 at AAMI Park last night.
The Roosters now sit in a share of eighth with Parramatta (both -11 points differential) and are part of a logjam of five teams on 16 points, headed by fifth placed South Sydney.
The Storm, unable to accrue any points because of salary cap rorting, anchor the table.
The match completed a horror few days for NSW Origin coach Craig Bellamy - who reached the milestone of 200 NRL matches in charge of Melbourne - after the racial slur by his Blues assistant Andrew Johns which resulted in the walk-out of centre Timana Tahu.
Rebounding after their dismal performance against the Sharks last round, the erratic Roosters turned in an accomplished display as they ran in three unanswered tries in the first half to set up the win, adding four in the second half.
Young centre Kane Linnett had a debut to remember as he finished with one try, and had a hand in another scored by winger Phil Graham, who grabbed another in the second half.
Powerhouse lock Frank-Paul Nuuausala was also a stand-out, topping the Roosters' tackle count and hit-ups as well as a try in the 75th minute.
Missing their Origin stars Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk, the young Storm outfit played with enthusiasm but were let down by their finishing and some poor defence, with 33 missed tackles for the match.
They were too often caught out in defence with a lack of experience and combinations exposed.
Halfback Luke Kelly, who has only previously played one NRL match, looked at home as cover for the absent Cronk, although was outplayed by Roosters No.7 Todd Carney, who stepped in for NSW Origin halfback Mitchell Pearce.
Carney had a busy night and also managed five from seven conversions.
Roosters prop Mose Masoe was first across in the line in the 18th minute when he charged through some flimsy defence for an easy four points, which appeared to rattle the Storm.
It was downhill from there.
Melbourne didn't manage to get across the tryline until the 70th minute, through interchange forward Rory Kostjasyn.
The Sydney side, however, weren't finished and capped off the night with late tries by Nuuausala and winger Sam Perrett.
