By Dan Walsh
Trent Robinson concedes his surprise Chad Townsend experiment “didn’t work out how we wanted” as he backed Sandon Smith and his fifth halves pairing of 2025 to keep the Roosters finals hopes alive.
Smith will partner Sam Walker against Melbourne after an error-strewn loss to Cronulla dropped the Roosters to 10th on the NRL ladder and cost Townsend the No.6 jersey following his first game since April.
Robinson also revealed enforcer Victor Radley is expected to miss up to a month with an ongoing shoulder issue despite the back-rower telling reporters on Tuesday that he was not anticipating missing more than a week.
Storm coach Craig Bellamy remains unsure of Ryan Papenhuyzen’s return from a month-long calf injury, while Melbourne will be without Cameron Munster as he attends his father’s funeral and Nelson Asofa-Solomona (suspension).
At the Roosters scrum base, Hugo Savala will be sidelined for another week with wrist ligament damage, prompting Smith’s recall after he was initially dropped when Walker made his injury comeback.
Robinson said before the Sharks clash that Smith was dropped to reserve grade because “he can play better”, while Townsend had impressed in NSW Cup.
Sandon Smith is back in first grade after withdrawn from NSW Cup duties.Credit: Getty Images
Smith was then withdrawn from reserve grade after Townsend’s four mistakes against Cronulla and recalled to first grade based on his training in recent weeks.
“It didn’t work out how we wanted last week, but I’ve also been really clear about what I’d like from [Smith] and his improvement,” Robinson said.
“We weren’t happy with the way we played, but also Sandon wasn’t there for a reason. We’ve always believed in him as a player … I want him to attack the game.
“I want him to go and play, go and attack the line and take his opportunities. He’s a really instinctive player, and I feel like he can do that more, and I’m looking forward to that.”
Walker and Smith have been at the Roosters together for three seasons but will play just their second game together as a halves duo against Melbourne.
Savala is expected to slot back in at five-eighth once he returns from injury, but Smith now gets the chance to further his cause both this season and beyond, given Daly Cherry-Evans is tipped to join the club in 2026.
The Tricolours have only beaten the Storm once in 12 clashes going back to 2019, and Robinson has spoken more than once this year of fostering an expansive, free-flowing attack to crack the NRL’s best defences.
Walker and Smith both fit that bill. But key to any success for the Roosters is hanging onto the ball, with an emphasis on keeping the ball in play for long periods undermined by the NRL’s worst completion rate and error counts like their 17 against Cronulla last week.
“They know each other really well, [but] they haven’t played a lot together in those specific roles,” Robinson said of Walker and Smith.
“But they’ve also played [in] the Roosters style a lot. So I trust our system and I also trust their combination as friends and an intuition there about how they like playing the game”.
The Roosters’ +8 points differential trails behind Manly (seventh on the ladder, 24 competition points, +60), Cronulla (eighth, 24 competition points, +21) and the Dolphins (ninth, 22 points, +169) and effectively amounts to an extra win needed to play finals.
The Sharks and Dolphins both have a bye to come over the next seven weeks, while the Roosters have one of the NRL’s toughest runs home.
Their campaign will be effectively decided in the next four games, given away trips to Manly and Suncorp Stadium follow this week’s Storm clash, before they host high-flyers Canterbury in round 24.
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