'Lose and you’re out. We’ve had five weeks of that': Robbo's knockout mentality gives Roosters dark horses tag

Trent Robinson has encouraged his side to keep swinging into the finals as the Roosters enter their sixth week of knockout football, with the coach declaring that his side’s do-or-die run to the playoffs has left them well-placed to take on the challenge of Saturday night’s elimination match with Cronulla.

The Chooks were dead and buried after losing to the Broncos at the end of July, but have gone unbeaten since, all the while rediscovering the attack that had gone missing.

In the press conference following last weekend’s victory over South Sydney, Robinson compared it to a golfer loosening their grip on the club to play with more freedom, and backed that mentality to continue.

“It’s all about how you view the game,” said the coach.

“Lose a game and we’ve been out. We’ve been loosening the grip while the pressure of having to win has been there, so there’s no difference this week.

“Win and you continue, lose and you’re out. We’ve had five weeks of that. 

“Obviously the stakes are a bit higher going into finals because of the reward going into each week, but we’ve had the same mindset.

“We know our game, we know how we want to hit the ball, but having that grip that allows us to swing freely is going to continue.

“We’re not trying to add anything now, but every year is different. Every year that I’ve been in the finals is different and if you try and bottle it and say ‘we’ll go back to how this works’ you’ll hold on to the past too much.

“This is different, it’s a brand new experience. Our belief in how we have developed our game is really clear and our mindset towards going after tomorrow night, the belief and freedom and hunger, is really simple and clear.

“We’ve worked our way into a position – a lot of teams are trying to hold onto their game, we’re trying to develop. 

“We’ve continued to work on our game, our belief in how we’re trying to play in both attack and defence. 

“We’re pretty clear now on our style and now it’s just about nailing it. Tomorrow night, it’s clear what our objective is. 

“We’re not resting on anything that we’ve done. Each week we’ve felt like we needed to improve and there’s no difference, we don’t need to change course. We need to keep bearing down on what we’re doing, nail it and keep getting that collective approach and combination work.”

Their surprise arrival into the finals race has seen them emerge as a dark horse, something that Robinson was happy to accept – as long as it meant his team kept winning.

“I can’t speak for someone else and how they’re going to view it,” he said.

“I know teams, I think, will be looking over their shoulder a bit. For us, the only way they can look over their shoulders is if we continue to win. Our job is pretty clear. 

“I’ve spoken week in and week out around our focus on playing our style of footy, understanding the opposition and the game plan that we’re going to have and then attacking the game with a strong defensive mindset and then swinging freely with the ball.

“Whatever reaction we get in oppositions, that’s a bonus. We have to be steely in our mindset and how we approach it.”

That they will be playing the Sharks brings multiple levels of intrigue.

(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)

The dynamic between master and apprentice might have been done to death – Robinson mentored Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon for the years – but as head coaches, the pair have cultivated open attacking styles of late.

Robinson said that his defence was paramount, but that the Roosters’ endeavour with the ball had to to continue.

“I expect us to defend well,” said the coach.

“We’ve been building that. While we’ve been playing a bit freer and scoring more points, we’ve also been defending well. I expect that to be in the right position for us, and then when we create opportunities, to take them.

“I know there’s questions around the finals, but it’s pretty unique, it’s 2023, it’s new. There’s ways that you play finals games and you do attack them, but we know how we want to play and what we’re going to do there.

“We just have to go out and execute. Execution is the key – you have to have the mindset but you’ve got to execute and we’re up to that stage tomorrow.

“The opposition have proven their worth by being in there and getting their home final. 

I’ve said each week that it hasn’t been about the opposition. We’ve got to be clear about the opposition but it’s been the mindset that we’re attacking the game. 

We’re playing good opposition, we know we’re going to their home to play and we respect that and we’re going to go after it.”

Jake Friend (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

The finals mentality is something that Robinson has been looking to consolidate, especially with a backroom staff that now contains several recent Premiership players.

Since the departure of Jason Ryles in May, Jake Friend has joined the coaching group alongside fellow 2019 champions Boyd Cordner and Brett Morris, as well as long-standing second-in-command Matt King.

The coach said the dynamic within the staff helped, as it allowed them to transfer their experience onto the players.

“We talked about it when Jake came up to the group a couple of months ago,” said Robinson.

“We’ve got Boyd developing as a coach, Brett Morris and Kingy. Us trying to get together as well as the other staff, we’ve been learning on the run as well coming from those players to coaching.

“We’ve asked each other to develop week on week and to push each other and to push the players. It’s been great, it’s felt so Roosters-like to have that crew in and see them develop and want to get more out of it.

“That calmness that we talked about this week – those guys have experienced a lot. Having them around these last five weeks has been very important.

“Kingy and I are far removed, but the strength of them is being so close. We need to highlight those areas and we have. We know exactly how those guys are feeling and they’re doing a really good job in the areas that they are closest to. 

“It’s up to Kingy and I to work around the edges in the coaching side over a decade of experience in finals.”