NRL Finals 2020: 5 ways Sydney Roosters can save their season
James Tedesco is confident the Roosters can win the premiership the hard way after their gut-wrenching loss to the Panthers, but there’s a few things they’ll need to fix first. VOTE NOW
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Roosters star James Tedesco says the challenge of winning the title the hard way can spur the two-time defending premiers on as they ready for a sudden-death semi-final.
After two years of being premiership favourites all the way, the Chooks are now facing a long walk to history but Tedesco and his teammates believe they’re still primed to claim NRL history.
“It’s just a different path for us, a different journey. If we want to win three in a row it’s going to be the hardest,” Tedesco said.
“It’s a tough test, but it’s exciting. I know none of our guys will lie down.”
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Despite falling short against Penrith on Friday night Tedesco said there were promising signs for the Roosters.
For a start they put 28 points on Penrith, who have built their season on impregnable defence.
It marked the equal-most points the Panthers have conceded in a game all season and was the first time since Round 11 they conceded more than two tries in a match.
“It felt like our attack was on top of them for a lot of the game,” Tedesco said.
“We had the powerful forwards to create the ruck speed, and we definitely have attacking weapons all over the field.
“It was definitely promising. They’ve been the best team in the comp all year.”
Tedesco was the Roosters’ best in the 29-28 loss, running for 238 metres from 20 runs and scoring a try.
This was his first finals loss since joining the club – since 2018 they’ve become the masters of timing their run.
Coach Trent Robinson learned long ago the Roosters don’t need to be perfect all season to win a premiership – they just need to be perfect for three games when it really counts.
But they’ve never left it this late before, and that perfection has to start right now. If they want to make even more history, they cannot afford another lapse like the one that saw them go from 10-0 up to 28-10 down in 33 brutal minutes.
Their recent dynasty has itself been built on defence and Tedesco believes rediscovering that foundation is the key to the Roosters finding their feet again.
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“Our defence has been our heartbeat to win the last two premierships, so we have to get that back on track,” Tedesco said.
“I feel like our first three tackles are really good, we drive them back, but we lose our way at the end of sets.
“A lot of those tries came at the end of sets when we just weren’t dominant enough.”
Time is running short for Robinson’s men, and there are five key areas the defending premiers must fix to keep their quest for a threepeat alive.
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1) FIGHTING THE FATIGUE FACTOR
There’s a reason it was such an impressive feat when the Roosters went back to back and there’s a reason it’ll be nothing short of remarkable if they land a third straight title.
The Roosters spent a lot of petrol during the regular season to stay in the top four and the fatigue of almost three years at the top of the game may well be starting to show. When they put the pedal to the floor there’s still not many teams that can match them, but the petrol tank isn’t as full as it used to be.
“From the outside looking in, it looked in periods like Penrith’s younger legs were just full of running,” said Fox League’s Michael Ennis.
“The Roosters have spent so much time and invested so much energy staying at the top, and it’s incredible what they’ve been able to do despite all the injuries this year.
“Over the last fortnight, certainly not for the entire game but for periods of it, they’ve looked fatigued.
“During that period where Morris went into touch until about the 50-minute mark, that half-hour period, I just don’t think they had the legs to go with Penrith when they were in their groove.”
2) ROOSTERS NEED A FRIEND
Jake Friend’s absence through concussion meant Freddy Lussick started and hooker, and the rookie darted over for his first try in first grade early on and he got through 55 solid minutes. But with Friend, Sam Verrills and Victor Radley all sidelined, Trent Robinson turned to veteran Mitchell Aubusson for the final quarter.
Nobody doubts Aubusson’s versatility, but only two of his 305 NRL matches have come at dummy half and they were six years ago. Friend’s crisp service, and his experience, could have made all the difference for the Roosters and should he return next week it’ll be a major boost.
“You have a young kid in his fifth NRL game, and (Lussick’s) been really sound, his work has been really tidy,” said Ennis.
“He played the duration against the Raiders a few weeks ago, but you could see the intensity and the emotion of the Panthers game — it went to another level in the finals.
“It’s such a key position, I thought it hurt them not having Jake Friend. He’ll make a huge difference coming back into the side.”
3) FLANNO’S STEEP LEARNING CURVE
Kyle Flanagan had a tough time of it in his finals debut. He was heavily targeted by Penrith’s fearsome left edge and struggled to put his stamp on the game in attack.
Flanagan didn’t record a single carry, and it left halves partner Luke Keary with a lot to do. He’ll be better for the run, but the pressure won’t let up as the Roosters face a sudden-death final next week.
“Early on, Kyle looked terrific — for the first try he put himself into position to attack a shortside with Luke Keary, so he was certainly up for the game,” said Ennis.
“I think Kyle had some nice moments, but there are definitely some areas — not just for him, but for the whole right edge — to fix up.”
4) TENDER IS THE RIGHT
The return of Joseph Manu and Brett Morris was supposed to shore up the Roosters right edge after Alex Johnston ran five tries past them last week but the Panthers outpointed them to a man.
Jarome Luai was close to man of the match, Viliame Kikau looked unstoppable, Stephen Crichton got the better of Manu and Josh Mansour played one of his best games of the season. The Panthers made three clean breaks all night and two of them came down their left.
The Roosters combinations were somewhat unfamiliar — Angus Crichton started at second row for just the second time since Round 10 — which didn’t help communication and allowed Penrith to find joy time and again. Given the Roosters’ reputation as a defensive powerhouse over the past few seasons it’s staggering to see them leak points so easily. Given the way Canberra/Cronulla like to attack it’s something Robinson must address.
“Kikau is never easy to handle, that combination of Luai, Kikau, Crichton and Mansour, it’s the best-left edge in the competition and it would take a hell of a task to stop them considering they were taken to task the week before,” Ennis said.
“There were some nice moments defensively but they also got pulled apart a few times. I think Kyle had some nice moments, but definitely some areas — not just for him, but for the whole right edge — to fix up.
5) BIG MEN MUST AIM UP
Sio Suia Taukeiaho is one of the best props in the competition and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves is a proven performer in big matches but neither man produced his best football on Friday.
Waerea-Hargreaves’ discipline let him down early — two penalties against him helped Penrith dig their way out of the hole — while Taukeiaho’s 110 metres was his fourth-lowest return in any game this season.
Given the pair’s track record we can write this one off as a bad night, but the Roosters need the best out of their star props if they’re to progress to the preliminary final.
“I don’t feel like Waerea-Hargreaves and Taukeiaho were at their best. I thought they started well but after that first 10 minutes Penrith won that battle through the middle,” said Ennis.
“Unless it was James Tedesco through the middle, who was superb in a beaten side, or Brett Morris or Daniel Tupou carrying the footy I just feel like they didn’t get that power game through the middle.”
Originally published as NRL Finals 2020: 5 ways Sydney Roosters can save their season