‘We definitely feel like we’re up to that level’: Roosters confident they can match it with the top teams despite awful record

The stats against other top teams are alarming, but the Roosters are adamant they have the talent to match it with the Storm and Panthers in the finals.

The Roosters have an awful record against the other top teams this season, but skipper James Tedesco is confident they can turn things around in the finals. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

Roosters captain James Tedesco is fully aware of his side’s shocking record against the Panthers and Storm in recent years, but he insists that his side is up to their level now despite being thoroughly outplayed in Melbourne last week.

The Roosters may be the most potent attacking force in 2024, but they’ve won just one of their past 20 matches against Penrith and Melbourne, while they’ve lost seven of eight games against the current top eight teams.

It’s a damning stat for a team that many people feel can contend for the title this year, with the fourth-placed Roosters unable to silence the critics with no more games against teams above them on the ladder until the finals begin.

The Roosters have lost all four of their matches this year against the other top four teams. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

“We haven’t beaten them this year, but that’s for you guys to talk about,” Tedesco said.

“We know that when we play the top teams, it’s obviously not as easy to win. Obviously, it wasn’t our best performance on the weekend, but we’ll take our lessons when we play them later in the year.

“I think in previous years there probably was a bit more of a gap and we felt like we probably weren’t up to that level, but we definitely feel like we’re up to that level now.

“Those games can go either way which they have when we played them earlier this year, but we have to take those lessons and improve from them.

“It’s not a mental thing – these are good teams. We’ve been playing some really good footy but we had guys backing up (from Origin) who weren’t with us for the whole week.

“It’s not easy going down to Melbourne. I don’t know how many teams have done that this year – probably not many – so we need to take our lessons from it because there’s a big chance that we’ll go down there again possibly in the finals.”

Victor Radley was one of two Roosters players sent to the sin bin against the Storm. Picture: Kelly Defina/Getty Images

While their attack was easily handled by the Storm in greasy conditions, the Roosters made life harder than it needed to be with Victor Radley and Connor Watson spending 10 minutes each in the sin bin for professional fouls.

Discipline has been a concern for the Roosters who are easily the most penalised side in the NRL this season and have lost a number of stars to suspension at different stages of the year.

“We’ve talked about our discipline and penalties in the past that have let us down, but they were tough ones on the weekend,” Tedesco explained.

“They weren’t like high tackles or stuff like that – they were spur-of-the moment decisions that are hard to talk negatively about because they’re split-second decisions that were sin bin worthy.

“It’s hard to win games when you’re down a man. We can’t be doing that because it’s let us down in the past. It’s hard because we want to be aggressive and go after teams, but we can’t have professional fouls like that.”

Tom Trbojevic was unstoppable for the Sea Eagles on Sunday afternoon. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

The Roosters face another tough test on Saturday against a Sea Eagles side that can leapfrog them into the top four with a win, with the fullback battle between Tedesco and Tom Trbojevic set to be the highlight of the weekend.

Trbojevic was outstanding in Manly’s win over the Titans with a double and three assists, with his close friend happy to see him thriving after a lengthy stint on the sidelines as he battled a hamstring injury.

“I talked to him a lot when he was going through his injury and then when he came back at centre,” Tedesco said.

“He’s back at fullback now which is his preferred position, and we all know that’s where he plays his best footy.

“I love seeing him back on the field playing good footy, but we’ve got to play them this week so I don’t want to see him play too well.”