Roosters prop Jason Ryles was treated for suspected sunstroke as the Bondi club came from behind to bury the Wests Tigers 44-32 in oppressive conditions at the SFS on Sunday.
With the temperature hovering around the mid-30s out in the middle, Ryles was forced from the field and rehydrated after losing his bearings.
The former Dragon eventually returned to the action as the Roosters piled on 38 unanswered points either side of half-time to blow away the tackle-shy Tigers, who led 12-0 early.
"Conditions out there were extremely hot. I thought Rylesy had a touch of sunstroke there at one stage. He was really crook," Roosters coach Brian Smith revealed.
"He was ga-ga. He was legless."
"He stood up and did the wobbles."
"He was right again in five or 10 minutes once he got some water in him and cooled down but it was very hot."
Smith paid tribute to two-try centre Phil Graham, who was ill at half-time after suffering a heavy head knock but recovered to play a significant role in the Tricolours' second consecutive win.
"Phil Graham played an amazing game. He got a knock on the head early and he actually asked the ref where he was, what ground he was at," the coach said.
"He threw his guts up at half-time and I thought he was one of our best players."
Tigers coach Tim Sheens did cut his side some slack due to the conditions and the late loss of back-rower Liam Fulton.
But he was unhappy about how little work the Roosters were required to do to score the majority of their eight tries.
"Conditions were pretty average. Whenever one side got a little bit of ball, the other side paid the price," he pointed out.
"We're not making any excuses. There were a couple of things that shouldn’t have happened."
"The side as a whole could have played better but no-one gave up."