Roosters 40 Wests Tigers 6: Coach Michael Maguire blasts attitude as reason for hefty defeat
Supposedly 2021 was the line in the sand moment, the year the Wests Tigers would return to the top eight. After just two rounds, that pledge is starting to look a little hollow.
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The Sydney Roosters would love to play Wests Tigers every day of the week.
On Sunday at Campbelltown Stadium, they continued their utter dominance over the joint venture side, racking up their 27th win in 36 starts with a thumping 40-6 victory.
Since 2010, the Roosters’ record against the Tigers reads an imposing 19 wins from 21 games.
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It’s the closest thing to an automatic two points you will find in a competition that prides itself on unpredictability.
Luke Keary and James Tedesco were the key architects of this latest victory, with ageless winger Brett Morris chipping in with his now obligatory hat-trick of tries.
The Roosters took just six minutes to get into full swing, kick-started by a former south-west Sydney favourite.
Champion fullback and former local James Tedesco threw the cut out pass that allowed Joseph Manu some freedom on the right to find Morris.
The veteran winger kicked the ball infield for Tedesco to catch on the full to complete a wonderful try that had Tigers fans wondering — not for the first time — how the hell this bloke was ever allowed to escape.
When Morris stepped inside Daine Laurie to score seven minutes later, the visitors were headed for a 12-0 lead.
The Tigers hit back with a Jacob Liddle try but that was the last we would hear from them.
The Roosters led 18-6 at the break and went further ahead seven minutes into the second half when Keary slid out of a Luke Brooks’ tackle and found Morris with a sublime flick pass.
Minutes later the Keary-Tedesco show produced the Roosters’ fifth try, courtesy of a fortuitous rebound from a short kick.
With half an hour to go, the Chooks led 28-6 and kept the foot down all the way to the finish line.
Keary was absolutely brilliant, just shaving Tedesco for man-of-the-match honours.
“Kez is learning that (halfback) role and doing it well,” coach Trent Robinson said. “He managed the game between the 50th and 60th minute to ensure it got away from them (the
Tigers). He is doing some really good things.”
HARD TO TAKE
Wests Tigers fans are starting to feel they’re being conned again.
For years they have waited patiently for the promised revival — only to be let down year after year as the Tigers watch the finals on TV.
Supposedly 2021 was the line in the sand moment, the year the joint venture club would return to the top eight for the first time since 2011.
After just two rounds, that pledge is starting to look a little hollow.
A first-round collapse against Canberra was followed by the heavy 34-point loss to the Roosters.
The Tigers’ defence was deplorable and their six tackle options at times comical.
And next week they face the undefeated Knights in Newcastle.
The true believers will need some convincing to hang around.
Coach Michael Maguire said: ”We are definitely not happy with that scoreline. It’s not acceptable for us as a club. It’s a very simple fix but you’ve got to have the right attitude to do that.
“I can’t fault how hard my players work but it’s how effective we are at times. We need to be a helluva lot better. I will make changes where I see fit. Every weekend is a huge weekend (from here). You need to turn up with the right attitude.”
BROOKS’ SAD MILESTONE OUTING
The portents for Luke Brooks’ 150 th game didn’t look great from the moment he struggled to run through a cardboard banner erected in his honour.
Once he broke through to the other side and made his way to the middle of Campbelltown Stadium, we were presented with the kaleidoscope that is Brooks’ rugby league career.
He kicked the ball dead three times in mistakes NSW coach Brad Fittler declared “wears your team down after a while”.
He also came up with a bad one-one-one miss that led to Sitili Tupouniua rumbling his way over the line for the Roosters’ third try and also missed Keary on the way to Brett Morris’ second.
In between there were mixes of attacking brilliance and a reminder why Brooks, at his best, is capable of some magic.
A highlights package of the No.7’s greatest moments was shown pre-game, just emphasising his natural ability.
It was there for all to see on the day Brooks burst onto the NRL scene with a headline-grabbing debut against St George Illawarra at the SCG in 2013.
The problem in the eyes of many Wests Tigers fans is he has failed to consistently match or better that performance in the eight years and 149 games since.
TEDDY THE PEST OF SYDNEY’S SOUTH-WEST
- Dean Ritchie
Teddy came home on Sunday to a special address he never wanted to leave.
“He was Campbelltown through and through,” said close friend, Reno Santaguida. “He never really wanted to walk away from the Tigers.”
Judging by what we saw in the Campbelltown Stadium gloom on Sunday afternoon, Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco looked pretty happy that he did in fact leave.
His seventh minute try set the Sydney Roosters on a rampaging path toward their decisive 40-6 win over Wests Tigers. Tedesco rubbed Wests Tigers’ faces in the soaked Campbelltown turf with a second try in the 50th minute.
He became the pest of Sydney’s south-west. But it wasn’t always that way.
James Tedesco grew up down the road from Campbelltown Stadium, played footy as a kid nearby and went to school around the corner.
Yet his once treasured Macarthur fans weren’t so adoring on Sunday. That’s because Tedesco returned to his old neighbourhood as captain of the Sydney Roosters.
It was the first time Tedesco had returned to Campbelltown Stadium as an opposition player. He was jeered by the same fans who once revered him, not that it bothered him.
Tedesco lurked around behind the ruck and generally made a nuisance of himself. He was up front, out the back, left and then right. He ran for 168 metres — the most of any player on the field — and kicked two goals too.
And he learnt all the skills on display just a nine iron away.
The champion fullback grew up with father John, mother Rosemary and brother Matt on a 250 acre property in nearby Menangle. John and Rosemary were at the ground on Sunday.
Tedesco played junior footy for nearby Camden Rams and attended St Gregory’s College, Campbelltown. He was in the class of 2010.
Despite shifting 60 kilometres east to Bondi, Tedesco remains close to his boyhood mates from Macarthur.
“Teddy was a western suburbs boy. He is always with his mates that he grew up with in that area. They are still together,” said Santaguida, also part of the Wests Magpies coaching staff when Tedesco played Harold Matthews and SG Ball.
“I remember a grand final after-party back to Easts Leagues Club when the Roosters won the comp a few years ago.
“Teddy had about 20 friends there and they were his mates from out west. As a person, he never left his roots from Campbelltown. Teddy still goes back and helps out at junior level.
“A few things happened and he ended up at the Roosters and the rest is history. It was probably the best thing he ever did.
“But I remember he made that quite clear to me at the time, he never wanted to leave the Tigers. He learned his footy at Menangle, played for the Camden Rams and went to St Greg’s. He was a Campbelltown boy.”
With his return to Campbelltown having now been successfully conquered, Tedesco can focus on his next major challenge — Latrell Mitchell.
Mitchell’s Rabbitohs confront Tedesco’s Roosters this Friday night at Stadium Australia. This will be among the most dynamic individual confrontations this season.
The number one players in the number one jumper. The game looks so easy for Tedesco at times.
And adding another layer of spice to the game is Tedesco playing against fiery South Sydney forward Jai Arrow.
Tedesco was knocked out in State of Origin III last year after colliding with Josh Papalii’s knee.
A fired up Arrow shoved an injured Tedesco in the face and then picked up the concussed Blues fullback and threw him into the ground.
It was an ugly moment not forgotten by Tedesco’s Roosters teammates.
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