KEY POINTS:
NRL
Roosters 34
Rabbitohs 20
South Sydney suffered not only a defeat in their opening match against the Roosters but also lost influential Craig Wing to a controversial injury that could see him needing surgery and missing at least six weeks of the season.
The Roosters were impressive in running in six slick tries to four, the performance tarnished a little by their poor finish as they allowed the Rabbitohs a sniff of what would have been a memorable win.
But Souths were left smarting at the eighth minute loss of prodigal son Wing, the former Rooster the victim of a shoulder charge from behind by hooker Riley Brown which appeared late.
Wing was almost in tears as he left the field with a dislocated left shoulder and it wasn't long before Rabbitohs fans joined him in cursing their luck, the Roosters producing some great ball skills to stretch out to a 24-4 halftime lead.
Souths coach Jason Taylor was scathing in his criticism of Brown's hit on Wing, labelling it a "cheap shot".
"They deliberately held him up so the other player could come in and hit him with his shoulder in his back," Taylor said.
"If you look at it closely, you can actually see his eyes light up, saying to the other bloke `I've got him, I'm holding him up, get him'.
"There's a lot been talked about cleaning up the game ... he got held up so someone else could smash him."
Wing is expected to be out of action for at least six weeks and may require surgery if scans reveal extensive damage.
It didn't get much better for the Rabbitohs after the break either.
South Sydney's night was summed up when fullback Fetuli Talanoa and winger Nathan Merritt were left staring at each other as Setaimata Sa swooped on a Mitchell Pearce bomb for a match sealing 34-4 lead on 51 minutes.
Souths threatened what would have been a monumental comeback when Yileen Gorden and Merritt crossed in the space of three minutes to cut the deficit to 18 points.
With the Roosters gasping for breath and willing the clock to tick down, Souths went over again when Eddie Paea found Germaine Paulson out wide but Issac Luke's missed conversion left them more than two converted tries behind with just eight minutes remaining.
Fears the games could explode in the opening exchanges were subdued by Roosters coach Brad Fittler's decision to hold back star signing Willie Mason on the interchange bench and it looked like he could have been left ruing the call when Souths opened with impressive back to back sets of six.
It was almost a surprise when winger Amos Roberts leapt from nowhere and shuffled the ball out for Sa to score his first after nine minutes but it proved only a tasty entree for what was to follow.
The Roosters looked like they were playing in round 21 rather than round one, with the timing of their set plays carried out to perfection. Anthony Tupou was the beneficiary of two superb offloads from Lopini Paea and Braith Anasta to leave the Rabbitohs in a big hole at the break.
Fittler was delighted his side had carried on their strong form from the end of last season but admitted the way they had finished showed there was still plenty of improvement left in the tri-colours.
"Given the start we had last year and the way we finished, we built momentum, so just getting out and winning was really sweet," Fittler said. "It was bit of a blessing in disguise, the last 20 minutes, keeps us from inflating and keeps us on the job."
Sydney Roosters 34 (S Sa 2, A Tupou 2, N Myles, S Kenny-Dowall tries; C Fitzgibbon 5 goals) South Sydney Rabbitohs 20 (N Merritt 2, Y Gordon, G Paulson tries; I Luke 2 goals).
