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The Roosters' legacy is on the line

Dylan Napa will be back for the big dance. (AAP Image/Paul Miller)
Roar Pro
11th September, 2015
4

The 2015 NRL finals shapes as a pivotal series for the Sydney Roosters. Aside from the obvious allure of being crowned 2015 premiers, the next month will go a along way in determining how this current team will go down in history.

Emerging victorious on October 4 will see the Roosters claim their second tittle in three years; fail to do so and the numbers will read one out of three. While this may not seem too big a difference in the present, as time wears on memories fade and numbers rule all.

This current Roosters team is dominant, three JJ Giltinan Shields in three years, an imposing defensive record and the likes of players such as Mitchell Pearce, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Roger Tuivasa-Sheck (not to mention Sonny Bill Williams) is just the start.

We know how good they have been, but only because we have had the benefit of watching them play. Future generations will mainly have books and numbers to look at and if the Roosters can’t add to their 2013 title, people looking back will see nothing too special about a team whose record reads one in three.

This isn’t the first time a team’s legacy has been influenced by its grand final record. The predecessors to the current Roosters team, led by champion Brad Fittler, only recorded one victory (2002) in four grand finals (2000, 2002-04). If one looks purely at statistics then this team is not done justice, for they were a great side.

Conversely the Melbourne Storm side of the mid to late 2000s also reached a crossroads on the way to their legacy in 2009. Failure to defeat Parramatta would have seen them only capture one title in four consecutive grand final appearances (2006-09).

Hardly befitting a team boasting the likes of Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis, Billy Slater and Cooper Cronk. Though their legacy would be tarnished by the 2010 salary cap scandal, victory over Parramatta saw their record improve to two from four. And thus ensuring they would be remembered.

So although this Roosters side is still young and may well have numerous opportunities to win titles in the years to come, part of their legacy will be decided over the next four weeks.

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Immortality awaits and if they grasp it firmly with both hands they will be well on their way to entering the record books alongside the great Tricolours teams of the past. They will be looking to match the 1911-13 three-peat pioneers or the 1935-37 side led by Dave Brown and avoid the fate of Fittler’s perennial bridesmaids.

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