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You wake up in your bed, with a bright light flooding through the blinds into your dark room. You gaze upon a memento of your pride and joy, a picture of a smiling Anthony Minichiello.
The memento is a reminder of your undying love for your rugby league club, the Sydney Roosters.
But the replicated smile on your face disappears at the sight of your lit-up phone, it’s a text from your mate that feels the same about your team.
“Mate, RTS [Roger Tuivasa-Sheck] signed with the Warriors! Spewing!”
The face that once had the smile now poses a face of extreme disappointment. Imagine losing a State of Origin-calibre half, then go on to witness the departure of a bright young talent that would have been the perfect replacement for the pictured man in your room.
You start to think a few things, what now? How come we only managed to win one premiership with that team? I thought Nick Politis had enough money? It’s like creating an art piece that will cash you millions of dollars, only for it to be destroyed by a bunch of Kiwis and folks from the Shire.
So, how does it affect the Eastern Sydney club? Let’s break it down.
Tuivasa-Sheck averaged 0.46 tries a game from his 24 matches in the 2015 season and he also compiled an impressive 12 try assists and 15 line-breaks. Can this be replicated from potential fullback replacements in Blake Ferguson and Joe Burgess?
Both pose good stats but can they evolve into a natural fullback while also improving? This is where it may seem tricky for 100-year-old club.
James Maloney needs no evidence to back up his importance to the club in the past, even more important than the Kiwi fullback personally. However, just to note, the once NSW representative got an impressive 0.88 try assists on average per game from the 24 matches he played last season.
There’s no denying his importance to further comfort Origin representative (I’m sure lot’s of Blues fans love hearing this) Mitchell Pearce’s game, as it relaxes his kicking responsibilities and allows him to add more attacking flow to the Roosters.
Can Pearce still receive this comfort from replacement half Jackson Hastings? Maybe, but it will take time and will obviously put Pearce back in his unfavourable position of larger responsibility for his team’s kicking game.
The Sydney Roosters need no introduction for their non-spine players and barring Michael Jennings, it seems most likely that the Roosters will go into the 2016 season with all of their jewels in their crown intact. Burgess will be a quality signing and their forwards are as big and menacing as ever.
However, is it enough to overcome major changes to the spine?
There’s no doubt winning the minor premiership three years in a row should allow some room to let go of some players, but I’m sorry, Roosters fans, and to people that may find it absolutely absurd to hear, but I believe it will be a bridge too far for the red, white and navy blue club.
Sydney Roosters – top or bottom eight?
Bottom eight.
This was the first entry of the Top or Bottom Eight series, a group of articles that aims to avoid giving an overly convoluted and specific prediction while still quenching people’s thirsts for rugby league as we’re still in January.
These aren’t necessarily dedicated predictions, they dissect the biggest talking points and go on from there. More in-depth prediction articles can be found throughout the internet.
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