The Roosters are back inside the top eight after outlasting the Dragons 31-24 in a thriller at a heaving Kogarah Oval on Saturday night.

It was a shootout early and 30 points were on the scoreboard after just 18 minutes as wingers from both sides combined for five tries.

But cometh the hour, cometh the man and it was Dally M Medal favourite James Tedesco who put Victor Radley over in 78th minute to seal the victory.

MATCH CENTRE: Dragons v Roosters, stats, scores, live blog

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The hill was pumping with 13,856 Red V faithful converging under a full moon but once again their side fell short in what has been the story of their season.

Roosters halfback Sam Walker played his first game of the season after returning from back-to-back injuries and it was a mixed bag from the young gun.

Walker was binned for third-man-in tackle on David Klemmer that could land him in trouble with the MRC and made several errors, but also showed his class in attack to help steer his side home.

“He was sent for 10, a try assist, a nice field goal, a missed tackle, it was a mixed bag but after a year out and an ACL it was good to have him back,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

“Obviously you can’t do that (sin bin tackle) but I feel like that’s a pretty heavy price for possibly the lowest contact you could put on a tackle.

“There was no force in that tackle at all, it was like the old school yard kneel down behind them and push them over.”

There were six State of Origin stars backing and the best battle was between Queensland teammates Val Holmes and Robert Toia.

Roosters young buck Toia and Dragons old bull Holmes went toe-to-toe in an entertaining battle and it was the Roosters star who got the better of his opposite number.

Frustrated Dragons coach Shane Flanagan said poor execution early ultimately cost his side the game.

“What cost us today was our start, we gifted them two tries and in the end that’s the game,” Flanagan said.

“Sometimes we’re trying too hard… we just can’t have errors on our try line on tackle one and tackle two at the start of a game.

“After that we got in a bit of arm wrestle and played some good football but you can’t give any team let alone the Roosters 12 points at the start of a game.”

WALKER’S ON, WALKER’S OFF

Roosters No. 7 Sam Walker made an eventful return after a thumb injury delayed his long-awaited comeback last month from an ACL injury.

There was some rust early as Walker threw an inside ball to James Tedesco on halfway that was called forward and it led to the Dragons’ opening try.

The 23-year-old was then binned in the 26th minute for taking out David Klemmer’s knees as the third man in the tackle.

“Third man in, it’s low, it’s avoidable, it has force and it’s high risk of injury, you’re in the bin,” referee Grant Atkins said.

But the Roosters defence stood tall with their halfback off the field and they even managed to score to win the 10-minute period 6-0.

Walker was perfect off the tee, which included two sideline conversions, and he also slotted a field goal on the stroke of halftime.

The young gun then put Billy Smith over with a beautifully weighted short ball that put the centre into a hole and over next to the posts.

Walker also gave away two penalties and missed four tackles, including one which allowed the Dragons to score and close the gap to 25-24 in the 65th minute.

MAROONS STARS SQUARE OFF

Just days after celebrating a famous Origin series victory together into the early hours of Thursday morning, Robert Toia and Val Holmes squared up against each other.

Holmes set up the Dragons’ second try before Toia crossed the Roosters third when he leapt above Holmes to haul in a bomb and score while his side was a man down.

Toia, 20, then crunched veteran Holmes while defending his line with a ball-and-all hit on the fifth tackle that ended the attacking set.

Toia went close to scoring one of the tries of the season in the 50th minute but he couldn’t quite finish after taking an incredible flick pass from Mark Nawaqanitawase.

“I was really interested in how he’d back up and that was really impressive,” Robinson said.

“This kid has done some (special) things, it’s been a good week for him, he’s done some great stuff and there’s a long way to go but it’s a nice snapshot of his mindset the way he played today.”

Toia did cough the ball up just 15 metres from his line which allowed Jayden Su’A to score in the 65th minute.

Roosters quartet Connor Watson, Lindsay Collins, Angus Crichton and Spencer Leniu were the other Origin stars to back up.

FRAGILE WINGS

Dragons No. 2 Tyrell Sloan and Roosters No. 5 Mark Nawaqanitawase aren’t exactly known for their defence and their edges leaked four of the opening five tries.

Wingers scored the first five tries over the match, with Sloan crossing for the Dragons’ opener but he was no match for Daniel Tupou in defence.

But his confidence wasn’t dented in defence, with the winger shirt-fronting Roosters big man Lindsay Collins in the 34th minute which cost his side a penalty.

Sloan made a half break at the death and when he tried to set up a match-winner with a kick back in-field he was crunched by Tupou.

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