The Sydney Roosters opened their NRL season with an easy win over a flat North Queensland side 28-4 in Townsville on Saturday night.

The Cowboys almost ran down a 30-0 deficit against the Roosters in last year’s finals before being denied the win by a controversial no try call against Johnathan Thurston.

There were no such heroics in the 2015 opener.

The Roosters, armed with seven players with State of Origin experience and four Kiwi internationals, jumped all over the Cowboys from the first whistle.

In contrast the Cowboys, infamous slow starters, were flat, lacked structure and were too easily torn apart by the Roosters attack.

It was a disastrous first half for the Cowboys, penned in their own half for much of the opening exchanges and bullied by the hulking Roosters pack.

By the time the siren sounded for the break, the Roosters were crowing 22-0 ahead and the Cowboys were cooked.

Former Melbourne Storm winger Justin O’Neill will have nightmares over his North Queensland debut in which he notched four errors by halftime – two that lead to tries to the Roosters – as well as bungling what looked a certain try by stepping into touch.

He did save some face with his 70th minute try, but it was little more than a consolation.

Former New South Wales halfback Mitchell Pearce, dumped for the 2014 State of Origin series, had the ball on a string in a brilliant performance.

Twice he threaded the ball through the line off the inside of his boot, leading to tries to Michael Jennings and Aidan Guerra.

Blues winger Daniel Tupou opened the scoring in the 10th minute while Origin teammate Boyd Cordner also crossed in the first half rampage.

While the Cowboys opportunities were limited, they butchered the few they had.

Gavin Cooper could not ground a loose ball in goal, Antonio Winterstein spilled a catch from a drop out and Broncos recruit Ben Hannant knocked on in an attacking raid, releasing pressure the Cowboys were able to build.

The horror show continued in the second half, James Tamou knocking under no pressure and fullback Michael Morgan coughing up possession with the tryline in sight.

The Cowboys’ night was typified by what looked like a powerhouse try to Matt Scott, who charged through at fullback Roger Tuivasa-Sheck as he fumbled the ball on his own line, only to drop the ball attempting to ground it.

When Cordner waltzed through some lazy defence in the 62nd minute, the rout was complete.

The match marked new Rooster Blake Ferguson’s return to the NRL after he was sacked by Canberra in 2013 and deregistered following an indecent assault charge.