Cooper, who is one of the few players almost certain to play in this year's opening Origin encounter in Melbourne on June 3, was full of praise for the young five-eighth after he orchestrated the Dragons' 29-0 humbling of the Roosters on Saturday.

''He is in great form at the moment and I thought he was magnificent against the Roosters,'' he said.

''However I don't want to put any extra pressure on him ... there is no doubt that he will be a rep footballer in the future but at the moment he should be allowed to keep playing well for the Dragons and the rewards will come.''

The Australian international hailed his side's performance against the Roosters as its best of the season and said the defensive effort displayed was a legacy of a punishing pre-season campaign Wayne Bennett put his new players through in the summer.

''Back in December it was really hard, probably the hardest of my career, but I think it is paying off now,'' Cooper said.

''We were under the pump for a while in the second half there, but defensively we never let them through and I think they were tiring towards the end and we hit them with two late tries ... it was a really pleasing win for us and probably our best of the season.''

Soward, who left the Roosters in 2007 to join the Dragons, was full of praise for the huge number of Dragons supporters among the crowd of almost 30,000 at the Sydney Football Stadium.

''When I was at the Roosters I never had the chance to play [on Anzac Day] ... and to come to someone else's home ground and have most of the crowd in the ground cheering for you it was a massive lift and a magnificent occasion to play in.'' AAP