The Sydney Roosters have climbed to second on the NRL ladder with a commanding 48-20 victory over the Gold Coast Titans.

Trent Robinson’s side was superb in running in nine tries to four to blow their opponents off the park and leapfrog the Panthers on the standings.

Angus Crichton Try

With the Raiders and Rabbitohs to come in the last two games of the season, the Roosters are perfectly poised to finish the campaign in second and enjoy a home final in the opening week of the post-season.

Sunday’s win, however, may have come at a cost with centre Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i suffering a shoulder injury in the first half and four players placed on report.

Initial reports from the Roosters suggest the centre’s injury is not serious and they are hopeful it is just a stinger.

The side faces a nervous wait for the Match Review Committee to release the charge sheet on Monday morning after prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves was placed on report and sent to the sin bin for a high tackle on former teammate Sam Verrills.

The veteran was playing his first game since Round 18 after serving a four-game ban for a high tackle in the win over the Dragons. Waerea-Hargreaves is playing in his final season in the NRL and his poor record could work against him as he hopes to return to the field this year.

JWH sent to the bin

Sua’ali’i and Daniel Tupou were also put on report for high tackles while Spencer Leniu was on report for a shoulder charge.

Sunday’s result officially put an end to the Titans slim playoff hopes, with Des Hasler’s side now six points outside the eight with just two games remaining.

It was a disappointing performance for a side celebrating Kieran Foran reaching the 300-game milestone last weekend with 19,286 fans turning out for the Gold Coast’s final home game of the season.