Roosters vice-captain Boyd Cordner says his side had plenty of positives it could take out its 8-nil defeat in Friday's grand final rematch against Manly.
Despite the result leaving the Roosters with a 2-2 win-loss record after the opening month of the season, NSW and Australian backrower Cordner said his side had turned in a performance they could be proud of.
"I thought we played well," said Cordner.
"We defended well. We just didn’t have the ball to have a chance."
The Roosters kept their fine defensive record against the Sea Eagles intact, with Cheyse Blair's 25th minute touchdown just the seventh try the home side have conceded against Manly in their last five clashes, but Cordner said the fact his side had made 91 more tackles than their opponents had taken its toll on the premiers.
"It's one of the toughest things to do in a game. It takes all of your energy out of you defending all the time so when we did get the ball I thought we were alright, just a bit out of whack. But it's no excuse.
"I'm proud we put in a real good performance but at the end of the day it wasn't good enough. We need to be better than that."
With another grudge match looming in their heritage round clash against the Bulldogs next Friday, Cordner was confident the Roosters would return to their winning ways sooner rather than later.
"Obviously it's a bit inconsistent to go win-loss, win-loss, but that's one of the things we're going to have to work on.
"We built our year last year on being a real consistent footy side and we haven't done that this year.
"All the signs are there we'll be right. We just need to turn it around next week
"The Dogs have obviously got a very big forward pack and they look like they're back to playing some of their best footy so we're going to have to be ready for another tough game next and we're up for the challenge.
"We’ll be looking for a bit of consistency and to string a couple of wins together."
