Sydney Roosters lose crucial game against Canberra Raiders ahead of nightmare stretch

The Sydney Roosters are staring down the possibility of falling out of the top eight in the Origin period after losing a crucial game to Canberra.

The Raiders are knocking on the door of the top eight. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

The Sydney Roosters face an uphill battle to remain in the top eight throughout the Origin period after losing their crucial clash with the Canberra Raiders on Sunday.

With brutal games against the Melbourne Storm, Parramatta Eels and Penrith Panthers awaiting them, the Roosters couldn’t afford to return from the nation’s capital having lost to the 11th-placed Raiders.

But despite the unwavering efforts of Joey Manu — the best player on the field in a beaten side — Trent Robinson’s men were left to rue poor discipline and missed opportunities in a 22-16 defeat that will be tough for the pre-season premiership favourites to swallow.

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“The whole first half was penalties and errors,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson said post-match.

“Overall, it’s really disappointing not to pressure right until the end.

“To let in 22 points and then miss some opportunities that we did have ... we didn’t deserve to win.”

The Roosters put themselves on the back foot by giving four penalties away in the first 10 minutes, all in the Raiders’ defensive half.

Luke Keary and Sam Walker again struggled to spark the Roosters’ attack, aside from in a five-minute period when the visitors scored two late tries and threatened to blow the game open.

The Raiders were missing Jack Wighton and Josh Papalii to Origin duty but the absence of influential Roosters big men Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (hamstring injury) and Lindsay Collins (Origin) was more noticeable.

“I felt like we lost the ruck. I felt like they were more dominant in the way they carried,” Robinson said.

In response, stand-in fullback Manu carried the footy for 34 runs (more than any other player in any game this season) totalling 258 metres to go with one try assist.

Manu was immense for the Roosters. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Joe Tapine (187m, 97m post-contact) stepped up without Papalii on deck and with Wighton out and Jamal Fogarty still below his best post-injury, the Raiders also leant on their fullback in attack.

If he can keep replicating Sunday’s performance, young Xavier Savage will give coach Ricky Stuart a selection headache when regular fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad recovers from a hamstring injury.

Savage showed off some first-class handling skills when he grabbed a low Ryan Sutton offload and gave the Raiders the lead at the break.

When the Roosters grabbed two quick tries in the second stanza, the Raiders threatened to fall into their bad habit of fading late but managed to hold on and are now on the same number of wins as the side running eighth.

It’s been quite the turnaround for the Raiders, who were in 15th place just six weeks ago.

Stuart said Canberra’s defensive resolve had impressed him.

“It was a tough win. We prepared for a grinding, gritty game and we played accordingly,” he said.

“We made tackles tonight that if we had made last week (against the Eels), we would’ve won that one too.”

Xavier Savage celebrates a try on Sunday afternoon. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Above average Joes

Ricky Stuart would’ve been relying on Joe Tapine to have a big game on Sunday.

With Josh Papalii in Origin camp and hooker Zac Woolford playing just his fourth NRL game, the Green Machine’s middle looked vulnerable.

Before kick-off, only one middle forward in the NRL had clocked up more metres in 2022 than Tapine (Jason Taumalolo), so Stuart would’ve been sweating bullets when the vital Raider copped a knee to the face in just the second tackle of the game.

Blood streamed from Tapine’s nose but he remained on the field and had a starring role.

He finished with 187 metres from his 59 minutes and alongside Adam Elliott, led the charge through the middle for the Raiders.

Tapine’s form is nothing short of Dally M Team Of The Year standard.

The other Joe, Manu, was equally influential.

Prior to Sunday, the Sydney Roosters had won 11 of the 12 games they’d played without James Tedesco and they could largely thank the versatile Manu, who started at fullback in nine of those games.

No other side in the competition has such a solid back-up fullback and he’ll continue to play a big role for the Roosters as the Origin period wears on.

“He’s such a good player,” Robinson said of Manu.

“We needed more guys to attack the moments right from the start, not wait for a scoreline to tell us to move.”

Tapine was the Raiders’ most influential player on Sunday. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Crichton’s thunder stolen

Angus Crichton would’ve been keen to impress in his first game since being snubbed from the NSW Origin side.

There’s a host of talented second-rowers currently in Blues camp so Crichton was needing to work overtime for the Roosters to get his spot back.

Crichton threw the suspect pass that gave his side its second try and looked solid carrying the footy but his second-row teammate Sitili Tupouniu Tupouniua stole the thunder.

In the absence of Waerea-Hargreaves and Collins, Tupouniua took on more work in the middle, particularly when the Roosters attacked at close range.

It paid off — after an obstruction denied him earlier in the first half, Tupouniua grabbed a Joey Manu offload and helped the Roosters draw level with a try. He came close to scoring twice more in the second half.

Tupouniua finished the game with more tackle breaks than any other Roosters forward and more line breaks than any player on the park.

Originally published as Sydney Roosters lose crucial game against Canberra Raiders ahead of nightmare stretch