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Sydney Roosters co-captain Boyd Cordner has suffered a third head knock for the season in the defending premiers' 42-12 NRL win over Newcastle.

Hearts broke for Boyd Cordner as the mourning Sydney Roosters co-skipper copped another head knock in their 42-12 thrashing of Newcastle.

It is the third head knock of the NRL season for the 28-year-old, who was taken from the field for a HIA after 24 minutes and did not return on Saturday night.

Worryingly, he has already missed six games with recurring symptoms after copping a concussion against Melbourne in round eight and again at training three weeks later.

In his third game back from the extended rest, Cordner was chasing a kick through the in-goal when his head hit the SCG turf as he was trying to ground the ball.

He stayed down for several seconds before he left the field, where Roosters doctor Tom Longworth made the decision to err on the side of caution and keep him off the field.

It ended a devastating week for Cordner who is mourning the death of his teenage cousin Joel Dark, who died in hospital on Friday after a head knock in a rugby league game last weekend.

The 19-year-old was making his debut for Central Newcastle, with both the Knights and Roosters wearing black arm bands in his honour in Saturday's NRL game.

"The assessment was really good, (Cordner) was quite clear," said Roosters coach Trent Robinson.

"But the time off the had plus also the week that he's had, that was a really smart call (from Longworth) just to say take a breath and don't go back on.

"It's an incredibly tough week, for Joel and family and the extended family."

Acknowledgement of the tragedy hung in the air during a minute's silence before the game, but the Roosters instantly clicked into gear.

And after a ruthless raid down the left targeting the inexperienced trio of Gehamat Shibasaki, Starford To'a and Tex Hoy, the Roosters led 16-0 after 16 minutes.

Joseph Manu cruised through soft defence shortly after, mounting an unassailable 24-0 lead.

"The execution of some of our defence tonight was a real shock to me," said Knights coach Adam O'Brien.

"We've got some stuff to fix up in a really short time frame."

Attack firing, winger Daniel Tupou landed a double including his 100th try for the Roosters, while Sonny Bill Williams was busy in the middle in a marked improvement from his first match.

In his 150th NRL game, Luke Keary created two tries and scored a double of his own, while James Tedesco and Josh Morris also got on the board.

Mitch Aubusson is now on track to become the club's most capped player against Cronulla next week after equalling club legend Anthony Minichiello on 302 games.

After being dominated, the Knights finished with just 43 per cent of possession and a try each to Enari Tuala and Shibasaki.

They will next play St George Illawarra in Newcastle on Sunday week.