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Cooked Chooks: Horror night for the Roosters could get worse after scary moment for Victor Radley

History says the Roosters cannot win the title after their round one thumping at the hands of the Broncos who look like a totally new team under Michael Maguire.

Martin Gabor
2 min read
March 6, 2025 - 9:55PM
NewsWire
Broncos to catch emergency flight home

There were grave concerns for the Roosters in 2025 before a ball was even kicked, and the naysayers will only get louder with Victor Radley set to be sidelined following a nasty collision with James Tedesco in the first half as the hosts suffered a humiliating loss against the red-hot Broncos.

Radley’s head whipped back after the two tacklers collided and he stayed down for a couple of minutes before he was able to walk off Allianz Stadium.

But it was one-way traffic after that with the Broncos racing in three tries in 10 minutes to set up a big half-time lead which they turned into a thumping 50-14 victory.

Already without 1278 games worth of experience from their 2024 squad, the Roosters will be sweating on the fitness of their vice-captain who failed five HIAs across the past three seasons.

The Roosters fielded three rookies for Thursday’s game against Brisbane, with their depth to be seriously tested in coming weeks given Radley was immediately deemed a category one and ruled out of the contest.

The club has traditionally been conservative with head knocks and there is no way they’ll rush him back even though they are without big men Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Super League), Terrell May (Tigers) and Spencer Leniu (suspension).

Fellow edge forward Angus Crichton is also facing a nervous wait after he was placed on report for a late shot on Ben Hunt after he kicked the ball.

BRILLIANT BRONCOS

The Broncos could have been excused for thinking about what was happening back home, but you wouldn’t have known it as they announced themselves as premiership fancies with a dominant display under new coach Michael Maguire before flying back to Queensland on a chartered flight.

Just about everything they touched turned to gold, with veteran Ben Hunt celebrating his return to the club by finishing off a magical team try in the second half.

That wasn’t the only bit of perfection from the visitors, with Deine Mariner, Adam Reynolds and Selwyn Cobbo all putting in kicks before the winger scooped up the ball to score one of his three tries.

Livewire fullback Reece Walsh was involved in everything and grabbed a try of his own as they looked a lot like the team that made the 2023 decider and not like the one that missed last year’s finals.

HALL OF PAYNE

While the Roosters lost plenty of grunt up front, Brisbane’s best forward somehow got even better with Payne Haas producing an absurd first half of footy at Allianz Stadium.

The tireless prop had nine runs, 87 metres, four tackle busts, two offloads, two line-break assists and a try assist before he came off, with the opposition middle unable to find a way to stop him.

It’s a formidable one-two punch with Patrick Carrigan cracking 100 metres before half-time, with Cory Paix celebrating his first start since 2020 with a try after he backed up an offload from Haas.

History says the Roosters cannot win the comp after they conceded 50 points. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images
History says the Roosters cannot win the comp after they conceded 50 points. Picture: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

WRITING ON THE BONDI WALL

There was a collective groan around the stadium when Lindsay Collins made an error on the opening play of the game which set the tone for the contest.

A brilliant bust by young gun Robert Toia gave Roosters fans a glimmer of hope when he burst through to set up Dom Young for the opener, but it quickly went downhill as their poor trial form continued into the season proper.

Halves Chad Townsend and Sandon Smith offered nothing in attack and were both found out defensively, with Trent Robinson facing his toughest test since the brutal 2016 season.

The three-time premiership-winning coach was bullish on Wednesday, but they look a shell out of the champion team with so many superstars no longer there, with no team going on to win the comp after conceding 50.

Originally published as Cooked Chooks: Horror night for the Roosters could get worse after scary moment for Victor Radley

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Original URL: https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/breaking-news/cooked-chooks-horror-night-for-the-roosters-could-get-worse-after-scary-moment-for-victor-radley/news-story/3e45d983c2b8338320a51ec639045d7d