The Sydney Roosters exacted some sweet revenge and moved a step closer to securing an NRL home final with a 34-12 win over Manly at the Sydney Football Stadium.

The Roosters took advantage of a stunning start in which they scored 18 points in the opening 12 minutes to run out six tries to two winners and put a major dent in the Sea Eagles' minor premiership bid.

The Roosters' win went some way to making up for consecutive hidings at the hands of Manly, the Sea Eagles having run up 98 unanswered points over their last two clashes.

Despite the loss Manly remain on top of the ladder courtesy of premier Melbourne's shock loss to the New Zealand Warriors, but they will be desperately hoping some of their injured brigade are back on deck for Friday night's home game against resurgent Penrith.

The Roosters moved up to third spot.

The victory was all but sewn up in the opening 40 minutes as the home side took a 24-6 lead to the sheds.

Any chance of a Manly comeback was doused after the break, not by the torrential downpour which sent much of the 22,681 fans scurrying, but by Amos Roberts' stunning second try of the afternoon.

Having pushed off opposite number Brett Stewart in the first half to en route to a 40 metre run to the line after a Steve Menzies fumble, Roberts again showed too much speed and strength for the NSW custodian as he raced 85 metres to make it 28-6 eight minutes after the halftime break.

It was a case of anything you can do I can do better as Stewart ran 99 metres after scooping up a Braith Anasta grubber on his own line to score under the posts, but it was all to no avail as a Willie Mason bust from inside his own half led to a Sam Perrett four-pointer in the shadows of fulltime.

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