Roosters 19 Wests Tigers 10

BRAD FITTLER can't remember the last time the Roosters won four in a row. He should know, though. He was playing at the time.

It was four years ago, at the back-end of the 2004 season, Fittler's swan song. And now, in the embryonic stages of his coaching career, he has managed it again.

"We keep talking about different challenges, to get the boys motivated, and that was a great one this week," Fittler said. "Someone mentioned it - we do that, we try to grab something that was in the paper and then just try to run with it. The boys just lift."

Five-eighth Braith Anasta added: "We talked about it during the week, winning two and three. A lot of teams win two and three, but you get that special bond when you can win four in a row, and we're starting to feel pretty good here."

The Roosters have come a long way in that four years, however most of the improvement has come in the past 12 months. In the time that Fittler has taken charge of the team, they have grown into a table-topping outfit. Not bad for a club that lost its coach after round 17 of last season.

"I always figured it was a pretty talented playing group, and it was only a matter of time before they believed in themselves," Fittler said. "At the moment, everything seems worthwhile."

Mitch Aubusson sums that turnaround. A dour contest needs a dour kind of player, but it was Aubusson who provided the brilliance last night for the Roosters to outlast the Tigers in the wet.

He scored two tries - including a wonderful 80-metre solo effort - to keep his side firmly at the top of the table on a night in which firm footing was at a premium.

"There's about half a dozen blokes there who have really stepped up and are playing some good quality footy, and that's normally your difference," Fittler said. "Mitch Aubbo - his game was international quality. Never missed a tackle, never missed a beat. He just protects the side and then comes up with two tries. That one try was just a cracker."

Even Willie Mason and Benji Marshall had ordinary moments for extraordinary players, Marshall kicking the ball out on the full in a first-half with more slip than zip (Mason's three knock-ons in the first 21 minutes proved that).

Tigers coach Tim Sheens was critical of his team's kicking game, and the performance - "we made too many errors, which turns you brain-dead, and when you go brain-dead you make further errors" - but he reserved his harshest words for video referee Chris Ward, who cruelled the contest when he controversially ruled Beau Ryan did not get downward pressure to a Farah grubber on the hour.

"He had enough looks at it, so he wasn't sure, so I would have thought that's the benefit of the doubt," Sheens said. "You either make your mind up it was a try or it wasn't a try. It looked to me like his hand touched the ball on the ground, and that's all you need.

"It might have been a good one to have Billy Harrigan tonight. If you can't tell within two looks then you're not sure. I've got to give Harrigan his due, but he'll make his decision within two looks, not four."

Fittler sheepishly seemed to concede it was a try. "I thought he knocked it on," he laughed. "Of course I did."

It was a night for some of the stars, even if none of them in the sky could be sighted. Tigers hooker Robbie Farah scored a try, while in the lead-up to his four-pointer, he kicked from a 20-metre tap to earn 40 cheap metres - the game's first 20-40.

The other Mitch, Pearce, kicked a late field goal, clearly trying to steal Aubusson's limelight on the night.

SYDNEY ROOSTERS 19 (M Aubusson 2 A Roberts tries C Fitzgibbon 3 goals M Pearce field goal) bt WESTS TIGERS 10 (R Farah T Tuiaki tries B Hodgson goal) at Sydney Football Stadium. Referee: T Archer. Crowd: 15,204.