No desperation or desire as Roosters’ guns fail to fire
The Sydney Roosters are the most pampered team in the NRL.
You walk into their new Centre of Excellence and the entrance could be mistaken for a six-star hotel or a Qantas first class lounge.
A stunning reception desk crafted from imported marble, fresh flowers, a state-of-the-art gym, lecture theatre, kitchen, dining area, games room, a sauna and recovery pools.
They’ve been given exclusive NRL access to the $1bn Allianz Stadium, the best venue in the state.
Six weeks ago the club even purchased a luxury bus for the players to travel to games in comfort.
Their billionaire chairman Nick Politis ensures they never go without anything.
The problem is they are now playing like a team that lacks desire and desperation, flogged 68-10 in the past two weeks. They look too comfortable and too indulged.
There’s the old saying in sport that a champion team will always beat a team of champions.
It best sums up the Roosters and a diabolical Friday night performance against Penrith.
On paper they still have arguably the best roster of all 17 teams. They started the season as favourites alongside the Penrith Panthers, fielding a team in round 1 worth $3m on paper more than the Dolphins – but got rolled 28-18.
Ever since they have failed to connect as a team.
There have been disruptions along the way via JosephAukuso Suaalii’s rugby deal, the axing of Sam Walker and speculation around their highly regarded assistant coach Jason Ryles.
So many of their stars are down on form.
Brandon Smith: An $800,000 import but struggling because he’s still got the body shape of a middle forward from his days at Storm. Also missed nine tackles against the Panthers.
Victor Radley: A victim of the NRL’s sin bin blitz. Seems to be holding back out of concern for leaving the team with 12 players. As a result he’s nowhere near as menacing as he used to be.
James Tedesco: The Kangaroos, NSW Blues and Roosters skipper will be first picked for Origin on reputation, not form. Penrith’s Dylan Edwards and Latrell Mitchell are way ahead on recent performances. After 11 rounds he’s had just three try assists and scored only one try.
Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii: Affected by the noise around his $5m rugby union deal and living up to price tag expectation as the highest paid footballer in the country. Missing tackles and not breaking the line.
We could keep on going – just about every player has been down on form.
There’s still time for the Roosters to recover. You don’t win – or lose – titles as early as May. They need to get back to their old values.
The values that were the trademark of Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend’s leadership.
Good old-fashioned hard work and strong principles.
That’s the only way they are going to get back on track.