There’s no denying that, on their day, the Roosters can be a red-hot side in 2024.
On paper, they’ve got a great roster and that translated to victories in round one and three when they cruised past the Broncos in Las Vegas and put 48 points on a struggling Rabbitohs outfit. Yet, Thursday night’s 22-16 loss to the Panthers raised a worrying alarm. One that should’ve sounded long ago.
The six-point differential was a false reflection on what was an embarrassing showing. Even without the game’s best player Nathan Cleary, Penrith parked their opponents in their own half for almost the entirety of the game. While possession read a 50/50 split and an even 78% completion rate, it didn’t take an expert to point out a glaring gap.
Sam Walker and Luke Keary have a big issue getting the ball up and down the other end of the field. Kicking in rugby league is what governs unpredictability and the power of a side’s back-end to their sets. Walker is a major threat in the opposition 20-metre, so is Keary. That’s why Trent Robinson has opted for two tall men to round out their edges.
Yet last Thursday, the services of Brian To’o and Greg Marzhew would’ve aided more help. Kangaroos aren’t much hop when they can’t jump. They also can’t get low enough to burst through a pack of Panthers low in the tackle count.
Sam Walker puts boot to ball (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
Walker put boot to ball 14 times for a total of 443 metres. He forced one drop-out, kicked four grubbers, one bomb and went cross-field once for his outside backs. Seven of Walker’s kicks were in his own half, opting for clearance.
In comparison, Penrith’s back-up No.7 Brad Schneider kicked 11 times. Two forced drop-outs, two bombs, three grubbers and two cross-field cracks. Schneider therefore cleared the ball just twice, and managed to pick up 239 metres over the night.
The 21-year-old Walker holds the keys to the Roosters’ kicking role. Keary is undoubtedly a five-eighth at his best, weaving through a back-door play and taking on the line to link with his edge players.
Unfortunately for the Bondi boys, end-on-end punts that go 30 metres don’t get you out of trouble.
Dylan Edwards and his surrounding wingers were gifted simple receptions on their 30-metre line all night. Edwards made 126 kick-return metres compared to Tedesco’s 50. That tells the tale, close the book.
For the NRL coaches who watched Thursday night’s fixture, the blueprint to beat the Roosters was laid out plain and simple. Kick to the corners and crowd in defence.
Brandon Smith was gassed after just 52 minutes. He ran four times for 19 metres. In other words, you wouldn’t have known he was on the field. Even the fast feet of Connor Watson had little effect.
To be frank, the Roosters make way too many errors to somehow retain their position as competition heavyweights. Pair a bunch of errors with a tiring forward pack in their own half, and you get a side with zero attacking flair. That was the Roosters of round four.
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So where is this going? Well to get your side out of the scenario detailed above, you need a proper kicking halfback.
Cleary, Brisbane captain Adam Reynolds, Matt Burton (a five-eighth but Canterbury’s main playmaker) and Parramatta’s Mitchell Moses are the best at providing some breathing space when the chips are down.
Admittedly the best we have seen in a while, Cleary has the power to worry the opposition in his own half. It is a major reason behind Penrith’s three-year stranglehold on the completion.
When the Roosters won back-to-back 2019 and ’20 premierships, Cooper Cronk was the man who could do similar. While not a juggernaut of power, he had the ability to find the corners and turn the fullback’s head. Further, he could hang up a bomb for long enough, so the calvary were on the kick-returners toes.
Nathan Cleary hoists a high bomb. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)
The likes of Billy Walters, Harry Grant and Api Koroisau fly under the radar for their kicking prowess. It’s a strength Brandon Smith has no grab on yet.
So, the Roosters are thin on a boot. Sandon Smith is a possible answer. In the Chooks’ drubbing of the Bunnies in round three, he kicked on seven occasions for 190 metres. While not proven as a long-distance option, having a kicker on both sides of the ruck adds an invaluable level of unpredictability.
Keary kicked just twice against the Panthers – meaning each time the count reached five or six, every man and his dog turned their head to Walker.
Go back to 2013 and the combination of James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce at the Roosters. Both proved very capable kicking options. It seems every premiership side has one of these two strongholds. Either a chief, sole kicker, in the form of a Cleary who can cause carnage from any position. Or a perfect mixture of two to three figures, most notably the structure of Melbourne in 2020. Cameron Smith, Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes. Munster left, Hughes right, and Smith to push corners from the base of the ruck.
At the minute, the Roosters are bone dry in both departments. While they may get through the season just fine and finish in the top four, they can’t win a premiership based on Thursday night’s showing. Especially if they come up against a Panthers side with Cleary at full tilt.
Trent Robinson needs to find the man to fill the gap quick smart because they will need it for September.
Stirling Taylor
Roar Rookie
Why so Mushi? Brandon Smith is on 800K a year, and as stated in the story - is not a kicking no.9. He is a ball-runner when best, so to go for less than 20m in a big game and come off blowing with 30 to go is below par. Harry Grant played 80minutes last night - made 20 more tackles than Smith last week, ran for 80 metres and forced a crucial drop out.
mushi
Roar Guru
Wow judging a hooker on their work rate by run metres. Stirling better hope over employment persists or he's in trouble.
NRL Tourist
Roar Rookie
"7 of Walkers kicks were from his own half". At best that's 70 metres less than say Burton for an entire game. Burton can't find the in-goal from 5 metres out. I'll take Sams short kicking game any day of the week. The Roosters benefit more from a good short kicking game than a good long kicking game, due to their big outside backs. You're also citing a game where the Roosters were always on the back foot.
Panthers
Roar Rookie
Could be correct there. Penrith played the last game without JFH, Sorensen & half a game with Martin. So the good thing from their point of view were the performances of Smith , Henry , Eisenhuth. Along with Leota. ( If they can get a bit more weight on Smith , he will be big ). After watching the NSW Cup games so far . I’m at least confident in the forwards , that are knocking at the door. Ready to take Sorensen’s & perhaps Eisenhuth’s places already. That’s after Geyer, who we haven’t seen anything much of yet. A couple of them run it up like Martin.
Gamechanger
Roar Rookie
“So, the Roosters are thin on a boot”. That game not only revealed that deficiency and in great contrast how good Cooper Cronk was, but it also demonstrated why Sam Walker has no future at Qld at Origin level, where distance and metres from kicks are a PREMIUM.
Forty Twenty
Roar Rookie
The Pennies did to the Chooks what they have done many times to all sorts of teams for the last half decade. Relentless , demoralising defence. While nobody has done it better , I do remember Manly coasting along in games a fair while back and looking like they were coasting to a defeat until they would just all fire up and smash the opponents out of the game. Every coach would like to do it but it seems it's not that easy and largely comes down to the players at hand. Hasler and Ciraldo have seen how it's done first hand but can't repeat the formula with a different herd. The other thing , is that what's happening in round four can alter dramatically come finals time. The Chooks pack was widely questioned in 18 , I think it was , where I remember reading an article claiming the club didn't need Cronk but instead needed forwards to bolster a pedestrian pack. Ironically it was this pack which did a Panther on the Storm to set up the G.F win. This could be the year that the Pennies cop it at the end. The Broncos did it last G.F but ran out of steam.
Dutski
Roar Guru
Agree TB. Do you think Burton will follow this same pattern on the weekend and pin the Chooks. WIll he be in a position to do so? It will be an intriguing battle - big boot of Burton behind a smaller and perhaps underrated pack, Keary and Walker's popguns behind the bigger Bondi boys.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Yep ! It starts from the first possession . You need metres off your line by your back 5 and then your middle thirds. If you are limited to being in your 35-40 metre area on the kick out of trouble, a good opposition will soon be bringing the ball back with interest quickly into your territory. It's not so much the big kicks of a Cleary that make the Panthers so dominant, it is more the back 5 & middle third providing the field position, so that Cleary can put in an attacking kick on most occasions, rather than a defensive kick. And last week without Cleary, it was Luai & Schneider who kept the Chooks in their own half most of the night.
Full Credit to the Boys
Roar Rookie
Hey Albo. Worked with rock and roll bands all over the world for many years, so I might have heard my prescribed amount of lead breaks. However I also enjoy solos in football but Penrith keep turning off the opposition’s power or unplugging the amps.
Albo
Roar Rookie
Nothing wrong with lead guitar solos ! I usually like Young's Telecaster playing but he was brilliantly countered by the Panthers defensive pattern, and poor old Tupou on the red Strat was limited to a bit of feedback !
Full Credit to the Boys
Roar Rookie
The Roosters wingers and centres went from threateningly tall to embarrassingly tall. The Panthers worrying short wingers got the ball back quickly and burrowed under or thru tacklers. Everything looked like a symphony with the Panthers while East looked like a series of lead guitar solos.
watty
Roar Rookie
We got bashed everywhere on the field against the panthers. Couldn't match them. They strangled us big time in defence. I don't think kicking would have helped us
The Barry
Roar Guru
What this ignores is where on the field a kicker is kicking from. I’m yet to see a kicker regularly ‘find the grass’ when they’re regularly kicking from behind their own 35 metres off the back of a set where the ball carriers have been dominated There’s no early kick in those circumstances, so the back three are all set. They can also stand a bit deeper so they’re running on to the ball and can invariably catch it on the full with a running start Matt Burton has as big a boot as anyone in the comp, but his kicking was just as ineffective in Round 1 versus the Eels for exactly the same reason. Mitch Pearce who you’ve described as ‘a very capable kicking option’ copped the same heat for a lot of his Origin career for the same reason Kicking from 45-50 metres or beyond off the back of a strong set is so much easier and what Schneider had served up for him There were no complaints about Keary and Walker’s kicking game against Souths when their forwards dominated field position