AFTER scoring two tries to help turn his first match against his former Bulldogs teammates into a disappointingly one-sided affair, the last thing Willie Mason wanted to do last night was rub their noses in it.

"I didn't want to be the sort of player to come out here when everything was going our way and start sledging my ex-team-mates. I am better than that," Mason said. "I would have got nothing out of that and I would have lost a lot of respect."

Despite being abused as he sat on the sideline for the final 20 minutes by Dogs fans angry he had walked out on the club during the off-season to join the Roosters, Mason's performance - and the way he handled himself afterwards - earned him respect.

As Roosters coach Brad Fittler said: "He was great, and so was Sonny Bill [Williams] for them."

Having admitted in the lead-up to the match that he his respect for Mason had "diminished", Williams shared a hug with his former teammate at full-time after being the first Bulldogs player the Test enforcer sought out. A shattered Williams left the ground without speaking to the media, but Fittler wasn't the only one full of praise for the Kiwi international. "I just said, 'Good game, catch you around'," Mason said. "They were disappointed and when you get beat, you don't want to talk to anyone - regardless of whether they're your best mate. They will bounce back. It's not panic stations for them, we played really well."

How well was demonstrated in the 40-12 scoreline, and Mason and Fittler admitted the ease of the win had surprised them.

"I really thought that we had the better side on paper, so I thought that if we played good, we would win," Fittler said. "But you don't know how people are going to handle these high-intensity games. Some people choke and some people don't."

Mason said he had been confident of a big performance against his former team but, now the clash was over, he hoped people would accept he was no longer a Bulldog but a Rooster.

"I just wanted to come out here tonight and prove to the fans and my teammates that I am a Rooster, and I think I did that tonight," he said. "I was always positive this week. I didn't want to come out and say I was going to score tries and play really well. [But] I was confident in my ability and the team's ability that we could perform. I didn't want to come out and bag the Bulldogs. I knew that when the time came, I was going to come out and deliver.

"There was a lot of pressure this week. It wasn't a Sonny-versus-Willie game, both of us knew that we needed our teammates to help and I'm thankful that my boys really put in. We're over this game now, so hopefully everyone can move on."

Of his 19th-minute try that began the scoring procession for the visitors, Mason said: "I was a bit shocked. I wanted to lay there forever and hoped it was for 80 minutes. You dream about scoring a try in a big game like this, but I didn't want to overreact."

But despite scoring seven tries to two, the Roosters' win was based on their superb goal-line defence that repeatedly held the Bulldogs out in the first half.

Having beaten South Sydney in round one and Melbourne last week, Mason said the Roosters were growing in confidence about their premiership prospects. "I just think the amount of effort we have been putting in at training and the commitment in defence is outstanding. I've played with some really good sides at the Bulldogs and it is that sort of mentality that we have in this side that means you are real contenders and have a chance of winning the comp," he said.

"We really proved ourselves last week. Melbourne are the benchmark and we beat them. we stuck with Brisbane for 70 minutes ... it's early times yet, but it's the makings of a good side and I'm excited."