Can the Roosters defy a quarter century of history and win back to back titles?
The Roosters are about to embark on a campaign that has claimed every team for almost a quarter of a century - the quest to win back to back premierships, writes PAUL KENT
Roosters
Don't miss out on the headlines from Roosters. Followed categories will be added to My News.
ANOTHER ONE: Morris treble leads Roosters to victory
DESIRE: Brennan questioned Cartwright
Phil Clarke spoke to the impossible dream.
It came moments after hope flushed hard in Roosters fans. No other clubs perceives then achieves like the Roosters.
They make it happen.
So Clarke began to talk about all that is left for the Roosters soon after Brett Morris went over for his third try against Wigan in Monday morning’s World Club Challenge.
Here was another title won handsomely by the champions of the NRL.
Clarke played for the Roosters in another time, before taking up his current role as a SKY Sports commentator in England, and knows how hard it is to win in the NRL.
So to win twice? He wasn’t underestimating the job.
When Morris went over he began to speak of the difficulties of recruitment in the salary cap era and how astute the Roosters were to pick up Morris on the cheap when Canterbury had to offload him after failing to adequately manage their own cap.
Having found Morris to replace Blake Ferguson, Clarke said, the Roosters were giving themselves a solid shot at going back to back as NRL premiers.
Although it came with a rider …
“Nowadays,” he said, “a lot of people in Australia think it is impossible to do.”
Maybe not this time, though.
Depending on your preferred version of history, the last time a team repeated as premiers in the NRL was the Brisbane Broncos in 1992-93, when it was still the NSW Rugby League competition, or when the Broncos took it out in 1998 in the first unified NRL competition after winning the Super League title in the split season of 1997.
Newcastle were ARL premiers in ‘97.
Since then, hunger, and not talent, has always been regarded as the greatest obstacle to back to back titles.
Such is the climb to win even one premiership it is too difficult to turn around and immediately do it again.
Hunger requires sacrifice, after all. It requires operating at the threshold of not only what is capable but necessary. And then, to repeat a season where effort and luck were almost certainly tapped out.
The Roosters might have just found the solution, though.
In recent years only two teams, the Roosters and Melbourne, have teased the possibilities of back to back premierships.
The Storm were defeated in last year’s grand final, were premiers the season before, and beaten grand finalists the season before that. It’s a sustained run of success that comes as close as it is possible to repeat as champions.
The Roosters’ grand final record is slightly less impressive. Last year’s premiership was the first trip back to the decider since their 2013 title but, in the six seasons under coach Trent Robinson, the Roosters have win four minor premierships.
There’s the clue.
Both teams have achieved their long term success not through spikes of talent or hunger but through a commitment to daily excellence.
This approach to excellence is emerging as the key to overcoming any drop in hunger.
Robinson saw that Monday morning.
He sat in the grandstand, drinking water like a nervous tic, and watched his team’s commitment to excellence restrict Wigan to two hard earned tries.
The key was the manner of tries.
Wigan struggled to bust through their defensive line throughout the game. Both Wigan tries were scored in the small inches inside the corner post.
Unable to go through them, Wigan snuck around them.
At times Wigan struggled to advance the ball beyond their own 20m line.
Last year’s premiership was won on the back of defensive season that had the Roosters, with Melbourne only just behind, as the two standout teams in the NRL.
What gives the Roosters a solid shot at this year’s title is that all season Robinson promised the Cooper Cronk-led attack would eventually come when, in real terms, it didn’t.
The Roosters have the scope to get a whole lot better this season through natural improvement.
It is hard to say that about any premiership team in the NRL era.
Cronk is still imprinting his style on the team and five-eighth Luke Keary will continue to improve into one of the great playmakers in the competition. Given they averaged 21 points a game last season, it makes for frightening improvement.
The greatest obstacle to a Roosters repeat might be the Storm, who have their own scope for improvement.
Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy alternated halfbacks all last season, unable to settle on one, and has since conceded it was not ideal. This season, he plans on committing to a full-time seven.
Mentally, neither side will struggle to again be near their best.
Bellamy speaks often about narrowing the gap between his team’s best performance and worst performance as the secret to his club’s consistency. Robinson approaches the game the same way.
The same measures are applied to their emotional approach, too, which might be most significant of all.
It softens the celebration of winning, taking away the emotional hangover of success when a new season rolls around.
Every game of every round of the NRL LIVE with no ad-breaks during play. Get it all on Foxtel
Originally published as Can the Roosters defy a quarter century of history and win back to back titles?
Why pressure won’t faze key Roosters signing
No team is under more scrutiny this season than the Roosters, but outside pressure isn’t a concern for the man who has been brought in to lead their attack.
Roosters rookie locked in for NRL debut
The Roosters may have lost two of the best outside backs in the world, but there’s a big reason for their fans to be excited.