Chooks have to sort themselves out

Trent Robinson looks on during Roosters training. Source: Mark Metcalfe / Getty Images

THERE'S much more at stake Friday night than just the minor premiership.

The Roosters are out to prove to themselves that they are still capable of winning the premiership, while Souths are out to convince the Roosters that they are not.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

I interviewed Roosters coach Trent Robinson after the Gold Coast loss last Sunday. For the first time in his NRL coaching career there was genuine disappointment and concern in his voice.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

Before the match, Robinson spoke about the importance of a quality performance after their Monday night loss to the Sharks. He said the preparation had been spot on and lessons had been learned.

But the Titans loss travelled along parallel lines to the disappointment the week before - a slow start from the Roosters and from there a frenetic lack of composure. Rather than grind their opponents down slowly, the Roosters chased points, forced passes and showed little faith in the things that had got them to the top of the table.

Coincidentally, two nights earlier Souths Sydney found themselves ambushed and 18-0 down against an inspired Wests Tigers.

But here's the contrast: the Rabbitohs didn't blink.

The Roosters tried to pass and chance their way out of trouble, but Souths settled into the grind, and over the course of the next 55 minutes broke the Tigers down, bit by bit, and put on 32 unanswered points.

Over the past two years, South Sydney have worked out exactly what type of football team they are and what's brought them success, and under no circumstances do they abandon that horse that has taken them to the top of the hill.

The Roosters, on the other hand, are still working themselves out.

All the top four teams have their certain styles and strengths, which will make this final series so interesting.

Souths' size bothers Manly, Melbourne's class worries Souths, Manly's speed hurts Melbourne, while the Roosters have a little bit of all the things that can worry all teams.

But at the core of the Roosters game is size and power driving through the middle field.

For that reason the South Sydney and Roosters style are the closest linked of the big four contenders.

Big, fast outside backs returning the ball, setting up momentum for big, strong forwards to continue the damage, with clever halves picking and choosing their moments.

And of course two pocket dynamos looking to explode out of dummy-half in Jake Friend and Issac Luke.

This is the key battle and the greatest indicator as to who is getting on top.

If we are seeing a lot of Luke getting out of dummy-half and running it means the Bunnies are winning that ruck battle.

If Friend is punching holes in Souths, it means the Roosters' big men are right on top.

And this is where the battle will be waged and won, smack bang in the centre of the field, and this is why Friday night shapes as such a challenge for the Roosters.

It's easy to blame last week's loss to the Titans on complacency, but there was far more to it.

A slow start, lack of composure and also coming up against a pack of forwards who were as big as they were and refused to be bullied and bludgeoned into submission.

The Titans' Greg Bird said their whole focus was on not allowing the Roosters any easy yardage or dominance through the middle. They succeeded in that and the Roosters just couldn't get going.

In round one, South Sydney did the same in their victory over their arch-rival and that will be the plan again.

The challenge for the Roosters Friday night is finding a way to win when they're simply not rolling over the top of their opposition.

Much of that responsibility will fall on the shoulders of halves James Maloney and Mitchell Pearce.

They don't need to be brilliant, they just need to be cool and reliable.

For the Roosters a win is not imperative, but a big loss could be demoralising.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Chooks have to sort themselves out

Dengan url

http://sportfoxer.blogspot.com/2013/09/chooks-have-to-sort-themselves-out.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Chooks have to sort themselves out

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Chooks have to sort themselves out

sebagai sumbernya