The Sydney Roosters have sent out a serious statement of intent after a dominant 32-18 win over the North Queensland Cowboys.
This was game 200 for James Tedesco, and while the fullback hit his usual high standards, he was far down the list after a series of superb showings from the Roosters.
Matt Lodge and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves laid the platform, especially in the first 20 minutes, and grabbed tries for themselves, while Victor Radley had two excellent try assists and Joseph Suaalii impressed in both attack and defence.
“They’re working hard on combinations,” said Trent Robinson of his forwards. “They want to do the work and don’t expect to score tries, but if the door gets opened there, they want to be ready to go through it. That’s quite simple.
“The door was open on a couple of occasions and they had the skill to execute in that area.
“I thought we set the game up really well for a longer period tonight. We established a platform to play off for the rest of the game.
“We did that for 30 minutes. We lost our way a little before half time, we weren’t as rigid and strong in that, but we ran powerfully, kicked fairly well and defended well, so the basics of the game we did well and took our opportunities at different times.”
The win continues the Chooks’ charge up the ladder, though in truth, the two points are almost secondary to the message sent via the performance. On this form, they will be a huge problem for whoever draws them in the finals.
The Cowboys will come again, but this was a stark indication of their level come post-season. They could be forgiven for a slow start given the emotional events of this week, with the passing of their Premiership-winning coach Paul Green on Thursday surely likely to have impacted their preparations.
Coach Todd Payten refused to use that as an excuse, and instead paid tribute to the Roosters.
“We got a lesson in finals football four weeks out from the finals,” he said. “We’re going to have to get better.”
It will worry him that his side were unable to match their opponents’ intensity, especially early on. They did wrestle their way back in as the first half wore on, but just when it looked like they might go to the break at 10-6, they conceded again and let the pressure lift.
They were utterly dominated in the middle, with only one of their big men – Luciano Leilua – managing to top 100m with ball in hand.
“I thought we turned up to the fight but we didn’t fight long enough or hard enough,” said Payten. “The weight of possession that went against us in that first half at one stage was 70/30.
“In the end, we were beaten at the ruck. We were too nice at a lot of moments. We played a hungry team who know how to win and when they’ve got their foot on the throat, they don’t take it off. That’s what happened today.
“We got punched in the face a couple of times and looked for a teammate to do something rather than come together as a team, which we’ve been strong at all year.”
The Roosters’ first 20 minutes last week against the Broncos was about as good as any opening quarter all year, but this week’s was perhaps even better.
Radley and Suaalii started early, with the lock unveiling a Sam Walker-esque harbour bridge pass to get the 19-year-old on the board.
The winger then went around ringing bells – Tom Dearden copped a big hit, then got steamrolled in defence – while Radley was enjoying his ball-playing, creating a try for Lodge.
The 10-0 scoreline might have been more after Joey Manu caught a high kick, but could not ground cleanly.
It wasn’t a fair reflection of the game, and when the excellent Lodge and Waerea-Hargreaves took their breather, the Cowboys struck.
It was an excellent try to get the visitors on the board: Leilua was the source of it, tapping deftly on to Murray Taulagi. The winger still had plenty to do, but aimed himself at Walker on the try line and got over the top of him to score.
It sparked the Chooks back into life. Walker produced a smart bat-on of his own to get Paul Momirovski free and his pass was finished by Daniel Tupou.
Early in the second half, it got better. After a stunning defensive set that left Scott Drinkwater kicking from his own red zone, the Roosters forced a scrum and Sam Verrills crossed untouched from the base.
The Cowboys needed to get the next, and did. Griffin Neame broke the line and offloaded to Reece Robson for an excellent score next to the posts.
Again, when challenged, the Roosters responded. Waerea-Hargreaves and Lodge had returned and it told, with the hosts able to roll down the field more readily.
After both Tedesco and Keary had gone close, JWH hit a crash ball by the posts and grabbed a deserved try. Verrills added another on the next set and there might have been another for Suaalii, only for a bunker intervention.
There was time for Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow to get a consolation effort, but it would be only that.
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