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Put a pen through them, they’re done. This was far from the worst Roosters performance of the year, but an 30-14 defeat to Melbourne condemns them to finishing outside the Finals for the first time since 2016 anyway.
With seven games left and seven wins on the board, the task is now too much. Back in 2016, they finished second last: this year, at least, it’s hard to see the Roosters being that low.
The Storm, on the other hand, cement themselves in the top four and can build from here. They were far from their best for a long time, but ran over the top of the Chooks in the end.
Trent Robinson will count the cost beyond merely the result. Victor Radley and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves – shock, horror – found themselves on report, for elbowing and tripping respectively, but found themselves only with fines when the charge sheet dropped.
Daniel Tupou did equal Anthony Minichiello’s try-scoring record, but it will be scant consolation.
“We were sitting on four points for a long time and couldn’t take opportunities when they presented, and then the game was gone,” said the coach.
“We have to have a lot of guys combine to have our moments this year. We’re not having individuals create on their own. You’ve got to come up with some moments.
“Our end of sets have been really poor. We’ve been having some good sets but the ends were as bad as I’ve seen tonight. Runs on last on short side, kicks that are five metres short of where they could be. There’s no pressure applied, no tries being scored.”
Fittingly for a game at the SCG, this had the feel of the middle session of a Test match, in which things are happening, but also meandering as if each side was waiting for the other to force the pace.
Melbourne had scored – a long-range Xavier Coates intercept – but as far as tryline action went, that was about it for half an hour.
Perhaps it was the Origin back-ups from Melbourne’s best two creative forces – Cam Munster and Harry Grant – or the absence of James Tedesco. Either way, this was, politely, one for the purists. Brandon Smith, up against his old club, was anonymous.
Eventually, it was the Roosters who made their move, sparking to the right and then all the way back to the left for Daniel Tupou. That it took the Roosters, the worst attacking side in the comp in 2023, to get this one going said it all.
After the break, however, the Storm put the squeeze on, the Chooks wilted and that was that.
Any lingering feeling that the Chooks might do something in 2023 evaporated when Jahrome Hughes crossed in the 53rd minute. It was the simplest try of the year, a halfback running one man off the ruck and scoring untouched.
It was a most un-Roosters try, the sort that would have been unimaginable in 2018 or 2019, when Trent Robinson could have been proud to say he had the best defence – and goalline defence in particular – in rugby league.
As if to put a tin hat on it, Coates scored a second on the next set and the fat lady could be heard singing all over the Eastern Suburbs.
In general, it hasn’t been the off-ball stuff that has been the problem this year, but when you don’t score any points, it’s imperative that you don’t concede soft ones.
Tonight, the Melbourne attack was far from its best and, if anything, it was the hosts who had done the best with ball in hand. Tupou’s try was the only good passage of football seen in the first half.
Today, the Roosters were decent with the ball – eight line breaks to four – but couldn’t make it count when it mattered and, after letting the Storm in, were forced to change their style to chase the game.
Late, having not made the most of their chances, they let the Storm in with little resistance. The pressure had mounted – the possession split was 66/33 against them in the first half an hour of the second half – and eventually told.
When they finally got themselves into good ball needing to score to make a contest of it, a pass hit the deck and the moment went. It’s been that kind of year.
Craig Bellamy would be well within his rights to suggest that the two points are what are important, and that performances can come. It’s that time of year with multiple players backing up from Origin.
But the overall feeling that this isn’t a vintage Storm side pervaded this performance. For a long time, they offered next to nothing with the ball and were breached several times in defence, only for the characteristic scramble to save them.
It was those principles that kept the game alive for long enough for Melbourne to win it. It’s what they’ve done for years. They tackled efficiently and slowed the game such that, in the second half, there was still a game to win.
The Roosters blinked first and the Storm barely gave them the footy back for half an hour. In that time, they were far from scintillating again, but there was a Harry Grant dummy half pushover and a Coates high catch – exactly the sort of try Melbourne so rarely concede – to see them home.
It’ll worry Bellamy that, not for the first time, the attacking plan didn’t seen to work. It’s funny to say that in a game in which they scored 30 points, but it was true until the Roosters were too tired to do anything else.
Maybe that was the plan all along. It’ll certainly beat a lot of teams in the NRL. Whether it will be good enough to defeat a Penrith or Souths in a finals game is another thing entirely.