James Tedesco has produced what his coach dubbed a champion-calibre performance, recovering from State of Origin disappointment to guide the Sydney Roosters back to form in a 25-24 defeat of Canterbury.
The Roosters and Bulldogs went blow-for-blow at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday and each side was spearheaded by Origin players chasing atonement - Tedesco for the Roosters; Tevita Pangai and Josh Addo-Carr for the Bulldogs.
Playing catch-up all game after dropping two tries early, the Roosters finally took the lead thanks to a Luke Keary field goal in the 74th minute.
But the afternoon belonged to Tedesco, who answered the struggling Roosters' distress call with two tries and an assist.
His form has been under fire this year for the first time in his decorated career but Tedesco now has the Roosters outside the top eight only on points differential and free from the three-match losing streak that threatened to ruin their season.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson lauded Tedesco for a performance that silenced his critics.
"That's what champions do," he said.
"Champions assume the pressure that's involved and they go, 'All I can do is play'.
"He carried us right from the start today. He put us on his back and went, 'I'm going to play footy'. He played all different styles today and we needed him. He showed who he is."
In the first half, Keary scooted past Max King and Karl Oloapu and passed off to Tedesco to score, and the fullback had a second try when a flying Corey Allan kicked inside five minutes later.
Tedesco could have had a first-half hat-trick but for an obstruction, and set up the Roosters' third after half-time when he burst through the middle on a line break.
"From myself, I carry a lot of expectation and weight on my shoulders," Tedesco said.
"I tried to get back to playing my natural footy, instinctive footy, as a fullback.
"It's been tough but I just wanted to let go of Wednesday night and go out there and enjoy my footy."
Pangai had a point to prove after an underwhelming Origin debut and set the tone for the Bulldogs by pouncing on a Matt Burton grubber kick for the afternoon's first try. He finished with a team-high 191 run metres.
Addo-Carr was the Bulldogs' best, first dashing away on the line break that gave the Bulldogs their second try.
He kept the Bulldogs in the fight in the second half, capitalising on Robinson's decision to shift Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to the wing.
Addo-Carr twice beat the Wallaby-in-waiting for second-half tries, the first of which came after he dashed 80 metres down the left flank on a scrum play.
The Roosters again equalised at 24-all after a controversial try from Suaalii, who went over untouched on the right side while Bulldogs centre Paul Alamoti reeled on the ground with what appeared concussion symptoms.
After Keary's field goal sunk his side, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo lamented lapses in intensity.
"I felt like we defended really well for good periods and then we let in points and let them off the hook," he said.
"They nailed that last 10 minutes and we didn't."
Canterbury captain Reed Mahoney will miss next week's clash against traditional rivals Parramatta after failing his head injury assessment at half-time.
