Sydney Roosters put the cleaners through Manly with 56-24 drubbing at Lottoland
THE Roosters have announced themselves as true title contenders with a 56-24 destruction of Manly that propels the Tricolours into the top four.
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WE’VE heard the hype about St George Illawarra, the power of Penrith, the fanfare of Melbourne and the glory march of South Sydney.
Quiet achievers for two-thirds of the NRL season, the Sydney Roosters yesterday loudly and clinically announced themselves a true premiership threat.
This was a July statement. It’s that time of the year when the elite start to emerge.
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The Chooks are sharp, physical, focused, firing and ready for September.
“It’s funny how the cream rises to the top at this time of year,” former Roosters coach Phil Gould told Channel 9. “The premiers usually emerge around August.”
The Roosters ran in 10 tries to humiliate Manly 56-24 at a stunned Brookvale Oval. It was a performance which will leave all other finals teams nervous.
Roosters centre Latrell Mitchell enjoyed a wonderful afternoon, scoring two tries and kicking eight goals for a personal tally of 24 points.
There were times when the Roosters simply toyed with Manly. The Sea Eagles just didn’t have the cattle to compete with them.
The Roosters slaughtered two certain tries too. The score could quite easily have hit 70.
And victory sets up a blockbuster against St George Illawarra at Allianz Stadium on Sunday.
Asked did he think team was in total control, Roosters skipper Boyd Cordner said: “Yeah, it did feel like that. Our goal is really clear, everyone is on the same page.
“This is the time of year you want to be playing footy. We are looking to nail down our preparation every week. We want to be confident going into games that we are going to do a job.
“We’re not going to shy away — we still think we can be better but we are heading in the right direction. We are a team that backs our eyes and backs our instincts.
“Everyone is in the team for a reason. We give everyone a voice and we want to back their ability. We really set up the game early, we dictated the terms and took the juice right out of them.”
It was difficult to ascertain whether the Roosters were spectacularly good or Manly that bad. Perhaps it was a little of both.
“Obviously we were strong in attack today, I think you could see the guys were ready to play,” said Roosters coach Trent Robinson. “They knew how they were going to play.
“We are improving and it’s true, that is the statement that we made today. It’s true we were on the improve and we are still in there talking about what we would like to do better.
“I thought we stuck solid about what we wanted to do from the first to the 80th minute. That continued to create opportunities for the whole game. I didn’t think the boys strayed too far from what we wanted to do at any point.
“They didn’t get loose on the way we wanted to play but it was varied enough that we kept coming up with opportunities.”
The only downside yesterday for the Roosters was conceding four tries.
“That was pretty tough to watch,” Robinson declared. “We haven’t leaked that many points in a few months. We’re an improving team but we’re not where we want to be.”
Again demonstrating their professionalism, the Roosters extra reserves were sent back out onto Brookvale Oval 30 minutes after full-time to train.
The first half was a glorified training session, the Roosters scoring six tries to one for a 34-6 lead. Some Manly fans walked out before halftime.
Tries came in the second minute, 11th, 14th, 21st, 25th and 35th. The Roosters dismantled Manly. The Sea Eagles defensive structures fell apart, the Sea Eagles missing 19 tackles in the first half.
Roosters call-up Lindsay Collins scored his first NRL try when he comfortably chased down a Jake Friend kick to score under the posts. Friend was a standout yesterday.
The Roosters v Dragons match-up shapes as the game of the season and should surely pull a crowd of 25,000.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 56 (B Ferguson 2 L Mitchell 2 L Collins B Cordner J Manu V Radley S Taukeiaho J Tedesco tries L Mitchell 8 goals) bt MANLY 24 (D Cherry- Evans S Lane T Trbojevic F Winterstein tries T Hodkinson 4 goals) at Lottoland. Referee: Grant Atkins, Matt Noyen. Crowd: 9,427