NRL 2022: Sydney Roosters win 28-4 over Cowboys, sin bin bonanza
They might have been without Trent Robinson, but that didn’t stop the red hot Roosters who were just too classy after three Cowboys were controversially marched.
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Cowboys coach Todd Payten has blown up after three of his players were sin-binned in the 28-4 loss to the rampant Roosters in Townsville.
The Cowboys had Tom Gilbert, Griffin Neame and Chad Townsend all spend 10 minutes in the sin bin and the Roosters made them pay.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten said it was “hard to argue” with Gilbert’s sin-binning, for knocking over Luke Keary when he was nowhere near the ball, but said he was “really disappointed” at Neame’s marching, who he claimed was in “no position to pull out” of what was ruled late contact on Sam Walker. Payten said Townsend’s binning was “soft”.
Payten said he agreed with Titans coach Justin Holbrook’s recent remarks that the high profile teams often get the lineball calls go their way.
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“There were 50-50 calls that went against us. Teams that have been up the pointy end of the competition or have high profile players get the benefit of the doubt far too often and that is frustrating,” he said.
The Roosters are back baby, and in a big way. Write them off as premiership threat at your peril.
Skipper James Tedesco and his rampaging band of big guns turned it on to put the previously in-form Cowboys to the sword in North Queensland, on a disappointing night for the home side compounded by a suspected PCL injury to star fullback Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow.
Coach Trent Robinson, watching from his Sydney home due to Covid, would have had a smile from ear to ear as Roosters big guns Tedesco, Victor Radley, Joey Manu and Luke Keary turned on a masterclass of scintillating skill on the back of a powerhouse opening by veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The only issue for the Roosters is their goal kicking with Sam Walker landing two from five and Tedesco missing with his only shot.
TEDDY BOUNCE
Tedesco was not happy with his display against the Rabbitohs the previous week but hit back in a brilliant captain’s knock. His overhead tip-on with two hands for Manu to score was a rare and beautiful piece of skill. With the ball in hand Tedesco carved the Cowboys up with 182m and he had plenty of mates. Manu scored a try and set up two with brilliant passes, one for Radley was back to his best with all the strings to his bow on show. It was one of those nights where all the Roosters big guns fired.
“Jared starting made a difference with his energy and impact and our spine connected a lot better than last week,” Tedesco told Fox League after the win.
Roosters assistant coach Jason Ryles said the club’s leadership was “on show” this week and had passed with flying colours.
“Tuesday, the boss goes down with Covid,” he said.
“Tuesday afternoon we are told we are going to Townsville a day early because we couldn’t get a ground to train on because of the weather. No-one whinged. They adapted and put in a performance like that.”
COWBOYS REALITY CHECK
The Cowboys were superb in wins over against the Broncos and Raiders but received a brutal lesson from the Roosters about the standards they will need to set if they are to challenge in September.
The home side wasn’t awful and did not turn it up in the physicality stakes but were out of the game by halftime.
Tyro forward Tom Gilbert had a brain explosion when he was sin-binned for an unnecessary professional foul on Keary.
The Roosters scored twice when he was off the field and the Cowboys had no answers. It was an ill-disciplined night for the Cowboys, but still one where they showed plenty of ticker.
“To play 30 minutes with 12 men and only concede the points we did, I am wrapped with the effort, but we were pretty dumb at certain times,” Payten said.
JOUSTING JARED
The Roosters were outmuscled by Souths the previous week in the middle so unleashed tried and true warrior Waerea-Hargreaves for his first starting game of the year. The spiritual leader of the Roosters pack was a machine in his opening 20-minute stint and gave his team the early punch and impetus they had been lacking. Gilbert hammered the 33-year-old in the first tackle of the match, but the veteran used it as a springboard into a wrecking ball display. His second stint was just as brutal.
“Jared’s presence standing next to you makes the world of difference,” firebrand Radley said.
“You have this confidence just because he is there, like if you get in a stink everything is going to be OK. He has done a lot for the club and he is someone you want to work for.”
WALKER HITS BACK
The build-up to the clash focused on the showdown of two opposing tyro playmakers and future Maroons hopefuls Sam Walker and Tom Dearden. Roosters five-eighth Walker, who had been criticised for his 18 missed tackles in the opening three rounds, hit back with a solid defensive display and a crucial early try assist with a pinpoint bomb for Paul Momirovski to score. His general kicking was superb and after an early cork he was also brave. Dearden was strong early, in defence particular, and was one of the Cowboys best. The duo will have plenty of enthralling contests in the years to come.
YOUNG GUNS ON PARADE AS MAROON MANIA HITS TOWNSVILLE
—Travis Meyn and Peter Badel
Maroons coach Billy Slater will get a glimpse of Queensland’s next generation of playmaking dynamos when resurrected Cowboys pivot Tom Dearden and Roosters sensation Sam Walker clash on Saturday night.
Dearden and Walker will face off at Queensland Country Bank Stadium, but it may not be long before they play alongside each other in league’s toughest arena.
Former schoolboys stars in Queensland, Dearden and Walker grew up playing against each other and there is plenty on the line for their respective clubs as the Cowboys look to back-up last week’s Broncos ambush and the Roosters hunt for consistency.
Dearden, 21, has rebuilt his career after having his development butchered by the Broncos and said he couldn’t wait to rekindle his rivalry with Walker, 19.
“He is an awesome player,” Dearden said.
“He is a year younger than me so I played against him a fair bit in the juniors. He was a freak as a kid and he’s taken that into the NRL.
“We played school and club footy against each other. It was always good competition.
“He’s got a big future in the game. It will be a good contest for us.
With Maroons captain Daly Cherry-Evans, 33, nearing the end of his career, Slater is set to usher in Queensland’s next Origin No.7.
Five-eighth Cameron Munster, 27, still has a few years left in him, but the time will soon arrive for Queensland to welcome a new halves pairing.
The Maroons are blessed with some elite playmaking talent coming through the ranks and few are more exciting than Dearden and Walker.
Dearden produced the best performance of his 37-game NRL career in last Sunday’s 38-12 trouncing of the Broncos and said he had rebuilt his confidence since joining the Cowboys last year.
“I had a really strong pre-season and I’ve worked really hard on my game with the coaches and Chad (Townsend, halfback),” he said.
“The biggest thing is I’m taking a lot of confidence out of each performance. That’s the key, to keep building each week, get more confident and improve my game.
“I’m doing that each week at the moment so I’m really happy with where my footy’s going.
“Toddy (Payten, coach) has been really good with getting me to back myself and my ability. He wants me to not be afraid to play my own game and do what he knows I can do.
“I’ve taken a lot of confidence out of the trust the coaches have put in me.”
That trust was something Dearden desperately needed when he was not offered a new contract and then released by the Broncos despite being earmarked to be the club’s next long-term playmaker.
“He was poorly handled, he was a totally broken kid when he left the Broncos,” said Dearden’s manager Sam Ayoub.
“They told Tom he would be their halfback for the future, then a few months later Anthony Seibold (former coach) went and signed Brodie Croft, and that was the start of Tom losing trust in the system.
“Then when Kevin Walters took over, Tom spent the whole (2021) pre-season training at halfback, they lost one trial against the Cowboys, and suddenly Brodie Croft was starting in round one.
“Blind Freddy could see how good he was going to be coming through their system - Johnathan Thurston had a huge wrap on the kid - but the Broncos totally destroyed his confidence.
“It was sinful what they did to him. He simply needed a change.
“There are no guarantees in professional sport, I get that, but since going to the Cowboys, Tom is back to the person and player I knew.
“He has his confidence back. His positive nature is back. The Cowboys deserve a lot of credit for being patient with Tom and giving him the faith that he could play at NRL level.”
Walker was crowned the Dally M rookie-of-the-year in his debut season last year and has been tipped to play State of Origin.
But his defensive frailties have been exposed in the Roosters’ 1-2 start to the season, particularly by South Sydney last week, in what is becoming a recurring theme.
Walker, a 24-game player, has missed 18 tackles in three rounds and Fox League commentator Michael Ennis said the five-eighth had to improve his defence.
“You think about when Walker came in and it has been glowingly refreshing to see a kid come in and play the way that he plays,” he said.
“Cooper (Cronk) was very good defensively. You look at some of the other great halfbacks like Joey (Andrew) Johns. Even Nathan Cleary at the moment. They are really good defensively.
“I played with a bloke called James Maloney who missed a lot of tackles, but Jimmy never got out of the way. He would always get off the line and get in front.
“We do expect a lot of young kids, but defensively the NRL is tough. And physically the more he keeps missing, the more he is going to get targeted.”
LOUNGE ACT ROBBO ‘WON'T BE MEDDLING’ FROM 2000KM AWAY
—Michael Carayannis
Trent Robinson will turn back time and turn his hand at being an assistant coach again as he prepares to miss his first match in almost two decades.
The three-time premiership-winning coach has explained to News Corp exactly what sort of role he will play and the emotions he will feel watching on from his eastern suburbs home as the Roosters take on the Cowboys on Saturday night.
Robinson tested positive to Covid-19 last Monday and aside from an initial sore throat he is feeling “as normal as I’ve ever been”.
He will take a back seat allowing experienced deputies Jason Ryles and Matt King to call the shots. Robinson described himself as being an “assistant” on Saturday night.
“Kingy and Rylesy will share the responsibilities at different times depending on their attack and defence roles,” Robinson said.
“They’ve both been in boxes for a long time and seen a few hundred games.
“I’m there to observe and offer to the guys in the box if I see anything. I’ll have a chance to watch the replay and if I feel the need to I will feed information back.
“I don’t want to be on constantly (with them) because of the delay and I can’t see the wider angles. I’ll just add points as I see it but without wanting to control anything. It’s up to them to run the team. They are good enough to do that. It’s their show.
“They don’t need me to meddle from a distance. I’ve talked to the senior players and coaches and we’re ready for the game. It’s a good opportunity for those guys to go and take over for the game.”
It will be the first time the Roosters have been without him as head coach since 2012 and Robinson he cannot recall missing any match since 2005.
He spoke with former long-time assistant coach Craig Fitzgibbon this week after Fitzgibbon became the first coach forced to skip a match because of Covid-19 when he missed Cronulla’s round one clash. Robinson has maintained connection with the players and staff by undertaking video work with the squad via Zoom.
“When you’ve got no control, this is what we have to do when you get Covid,” Robinson said.
“You spend some time on other stuff. It’s not as if I’m at home sitting on the lounge.
“I’m sitting in front of the computer screen and doing other work that I don’t usually get to do from week to week. You just take it for what it is.
“Not one person is vitally important to a team. That’s why the whole club has to get together. It’s not the end of the world. It’s been fine.”
Robinson will have to fight his young family for control of the television.
“I’ll be sitting by myself,” Robinson said.
“We only have one television but I have an office where I can get into. I won’t be having the kids around me – that’s for sure.”
He will return to training on Monday provided he tests negative.
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