'Battling' Roosters claw back against the Knights as Victor Radley suffers another head knock

Victor Radley will adhere to the concussion stand down policy yet again this season after a late collision in the first half forced the Roosters gun off the field.

It was a troubling sight for Roosters supporters and coaching staff as Radley called to trainers from the sidelines before walking down the tunnel for assessment.

The forward was attempting to make a tackle on the storming fullback from 15m out when his head collided with the knee of his Knights rival Fletcher Hunt.

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Radley stayed flat on the turf as Hunt continued to run the ball wide and he did not return to his feet until the Roosters regained possession two tackles later.

He shortly after walked to the sidelines to exit the field.

"It looks like he is going straight into the dressing room," league great Steve Roach said on Fox League.

Radley was seen speaking with trainers for a short period on the sidelines before he walked to the changerooms, where he eventually failed the head injury assessment.

"That is a big loss... they are battling at the moment the Roosters," said Roach.

The 27-year-old's absence was just another layer of trouble for the Tricolours, who were stuck battling inside their own half for most of the opening 40 minutes.

Newcastle held 61 per cent of possession in the opening half, with a linebreak by Dylan Lucas setting up the start of their electric attack in the early minutes.

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Lucas slipped through a gap between Siua Wong and James Tedesco to power towards the line but he was caught by Victor Radley just over 10m out from the tryline.

A quick play of the ball was fired to the left to Newcastle's Jack Cogger, who flicked a slick pass into Kyle McCarthy to open the scoring.

Dropped balls and offside calls unsettled the Roosters line further, with six penalties and seven errors made by the time the clock struck the 55th minute.

An escort penalty against Roosters gun Egan Butcher saw the score raised to 8-0.

"Around the ruck seems to be the problem - they are just being gang-tackled," Roach said of the visiting Roosters.

But a game-saving try by Salesi Foketi turned the nature of the game as the Roosters struck their first points and narrowed the margin to 8-6 in the 60th minute.

Wong added another four points in the 70th to snatch the lead from a dominate home side in the rain, in what was an impressive effort to maintain hold of the ball.

A desperate attacking effort by the Knights rounded out the final minutes but it was not enough to claim victory in front of a home crowd.