If ever there was a night Trent Robinson's men looked vulnerable, this was it.

Apart from the airport dramas and loss of Morris, the Roosters also had inspirational hooker Jake Friend leave the field with concussion midway through the first half and not return, while Boyd Cordner (concussion), Daniel Tupou (ankle), Victor Radley (knee) and Sam Verrills (knee) were already occupying the worrying casualty ward.

"And they were off their game the first 40 minutes as well with their completion rates," Peter Sterling said on the Nine commentary.

Ikuvalu could not believe his luck when he continually crossed the chalk.

The 26-year-old's second effort was spectacular as he leapt high and planted the ball down.

Ikuvalu revealed he had an inkling he could be a late addition after Morris pulled up tight during the captain's run.

"Every time I warm up I know I have to be 100 per cent ready in case something happens," Ikuvalu said. "It's always a blessing to get a game with these boys. It's still surreal to play with such a great team. That's 16 games, I'm 26, I'm happy with that."

Prolific Super League tryscorer Ryan Hall was posted on the other side of the field and left to wonder when -and if - his first four-pointer in the NRL will come. There were cruel scenes late when he thought he had actually scored, and even went to high-five James Tedesco, only for the final pass to be ruled forward.

The Cowboys were nothing short of embarrassing after the break as the boys in red, white and blue went bang, bang, bang, bang.

Cowboys great Johnathan Thurston said on the Nine commentary: "The worst thing to happen to [the Cowboys] was half-time. The second-half has been diabolical and their defence atrocious.''

Canterbury's Dean Pay is under pressure but could only dream of some of the players North Queensland counterpart Paul Green has at his disposal.

And Green can expect plenty of pressure in the coming weeks as his team travel to Penrith and then host Manly.

It was the second straight week they conceded 40 points.

The Roosters somehow led at half-time after the hugely-impressive Sio Siua Taukeiaho burst through a gap and put Sitili Tupounuia over for a rare four-pointer.

Taukeiaho played the first 65 minutes and again proved why he is one of the best front-rowers in the game.

If David Fifita is worth $1.25m in the eyes of the Gold Coast, Taukeiaho would be worth just shy of seven figures given his enormous engine and ball-playing skills.

The Roosters finally return to the Sydney Cricket Ground next Thursday night for the Grand Final replay against Canberra. They are chasing a seventh win in eight games since the competition rebooyted after COVID-19.

Had the NRL listened to Chooks' boss Nick Politis and scrapped the competition points earned in the first two rounds before the game was shut down, the Bondi boys would be on top.

They might want to add a few extra plastic chairs on the SCG sidelines to accommodate the bulging casualty ward that is building at both clubs.

The Cowboys scored first through Reece Robson after a Taumalolo charge.

Kyle Flanagan and James Tedesco showed some fantastic hands to shift the ball quickly to hit back via Ikuvalu.

And Flanagan nailed the conversion from the sideline to level the scores.

When Taukeiaho combined with Tupouniua a few minutes later, the Roosters never looked back.

Taukeiaho finished with 193m while his Tongan mate Taumalolo chalked up nearly 230m for the losers. Lindsay Collins also got through plenty of work when coming off the Chooks' bench.