Johnathan Thurston praises ruthless Roosters’ Fab Five
League legend Johnathan Thurston is in awe of the Sydney Roosters’ back five who have produced a stunning amount of metres out of their own end in comparison to their NRL rivals.
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Rugby league immortal in waiting Johnathan Thurston has declared the Roosters’ back three the undisputed “ruck and roll’’ stars of the NRL.
James Tedesco, Brett Morris and Daniel Tupou have rucked their way to a staggering 10,248 metres over the first three plays of the set to lead the Roosters premiership charge.
They’re the best back three yardage trio in the NRL by more than 1500m and statistics obtained by The Saturday Telegraph also reveal that Tupou and Morris play the ball as quick as anyone with both winger’s boasting a rating of over 60 per cent “fast’’.
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The tidal wave that kick starts the Roosters attack, Tedesco, Tupou and Morris are averaging 394m combined for the first three plays of every set.
The trio have also taken more yardage runs than another back three with a combined 1043 own-end of the field runs for the season.
“They roll down the field better than anyone,’’ Thurston said.
“They get incredible ruck speed and get the Roosters to good parts of the field. They are the best in the game.’’
Add in Latrell Mitchell and Joeseph Manu – both play three specialists – the Roosters have their very own “Fab Five’’.
“I’d include Latrell and Manu in those stats because it is really the back five that do all the ruck work,’’ Thurston said.
“Those two jump on the back off what the others have started and do play three as good as anyone.’’
Thurston – who courageously led the Cowboys to their first and only premiership in 2015 – said the Raiders had to limit the running meters of the back five to stand a chance.
“That starts with getting to goof kicks,’’ Thurston said.
“The Raiders really need to get their kicking game right. They need to put the ball into the right places to try and limit their ruck meters.
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“They need to make it difficult for the Roosters to attack from their own end.
“They don’t want to be kicking it straight to Tedesco, Morris and or Tupou and handing them easy meters on the first play.’’
Thurston also urged the Raiders to number up in defence.
“They want to be able to get numbers into the very first tackle to slow down the ruck,’’ Thurston said.
“Part of the Roosters back five’s strengths are their play the balls. They get fast play the balls and create momentum for each other.’’
The Roosters mobile pack of monsters benefit from the work of the back five, according to Thurston.
“It allows there forwards to reload and not have to travel back so far,’’ Thurston said.
“They don’t use as much energy as forwards from other teams and are fresher when it is their time to get the ball.
“Their work in the back also puts Cronk and Keary in good kicking positions. It’s not often they get to the last and have to kick from inside their own 40. A good kick puts them in prime position to defend.’’
Originally published as Johnathan Thurston praises ruthless Roosters’ Fab Five