Kiwi centre Shaun Kenny-Dowall become the first Rooster in 35 years to grab four tries in a match as the Sydney-side held on for a heart-stopping 34-30 win over Brisbane on Monday night.
The Roosters started strongly and led 28-6 early in the second half, but somehow looked to have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory after relinquishing both momentum and the lead to the Broncos late in the piece.
The hosts had slammed on four tries in the space of 15 minutes before the Ngaruawahia-raised one-Test Kiwi Kenny-Dowall crossed for the contest's definitive try.
Sydney coach Brian Smith praised his side's mettle, expressed feelings of relief and was quick to praise the effort that saw the Roosters bustle into third spot on the NRL ladder.
"I think everyone who watched that game will be either aged or exhilarated, or maybe devastated by it all," Smith said.
"We had to dig a little bit deeper and we found it. I'm rapt in our guys doing that."
"That's just quite incredible… it was poise under pressure, with so many young guys in our team and I thought it was just magic."
The win came about despite the absence of late withdrawals Nate Myles (hip) and Mitchell Pearce (hamstring), and was thanks largely to the efforts of Todd Carney, who had a hand in all but one of his side's six tries.
The addition of Carney has coincided with a stunning turnaround in form for the Roosters, who finished the 2009 season in last place.
Carney was undoubtedly the creative force behind Sydney's slick use of the ball and he indirectly earned high praise from Broncos captain Darren Lockyer.
"They're probably the benchmark (in the league) with their attack," Lockyer said.
"The Roosters play an up-tempo style of football, and they were always going to test us defensively."
"They need to do a bit better defensively, they're letting in some points, but they're a genuine chance (of winning the premiership)."
Smith agreed with Lockyer's assessment of his side's loose defence, and believed the Roosters had a lot of work to do ahead of their mouth-watering clash against Parramatta.
"The boys are doing some great things for us. The composure and the fight back and all that stuff, they're all great signs," Smith said.
"You guys can say some nice things about us, but that's not going to help us improve our defence."
"We've got to work harder and get back into that groove. We had it going for a while, we just lost it for a bit, we need to get it back soon."
Sydney will likely take on the Eels minus prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, who injured his calf on Monday night.
The Broncos will also be sweating on the results of scans on Ben Te'o's suspected broken foot, with the utility expected to be sidelined for at least a month.
Brisbane coach Ivan Henjak lamented his side's slow start and conceded the Broncos 'didn't deserve to win'.