Late flurry can't gloss over early failings for Roosters

A team stacked with internationals, Origin stars and rising stars was never going to be content with bowing out in week two of the finals.

When that team is the Sydney Roosters, winners of three premierships in the past decade and a club engineered for success, the exit is even more galling.

After marching to back-to-back titles in 2018-19, the Roosters have made the semi-final stage in three of the past four seasons, only to go out at the hands of the Raiders in 2020, Sea Eagles in 2021 and Storm this year.

Wedged in between those week two finals departures was the fiery elimination final defeat at the hands of arch-rivals Souths in 2022.

Since Trent Robinson assumed control in 2013 the Tricolours have missed the play-offs just once – a remarkable record of which they are justifiably proud and fiercely determined to turn into more premierships.

When the 2023 report card lands on Robinson’s desk after a spot of soul searching this week, the achievement to even make the top eight having slipped to 14th after Round 22 will demand an A+.

The events of the first half of the season, when they could manage just five wins in 11 games, won’t be looked upon so kindly.

Going down to fellow contenders Melbourne, Penrith, North Queensland and Cronulla was bearable, but losses to competition newcomers the Dolphins in Round 1 and the Dragons in Round 12 were tough to take.

So pumped up were Wayne Bennett’s men for their debut game at Suncorp Stadium that they would have caught most sides on the hop, but letting the struggling Dragons off the hook at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium couldn’t be so easily explained.

With the two points seemingly in the bag after skipper James Tedesco’s 76th minute try had given them a 22-18 lead, the Roosters gave up a try to Mat Feagai with 13 seconds to play after ‘Hail Mary’ kicks by Ben Hunt and Tyrell Sloan had come up trumps.

Dragons interim coach Ryan Carr had a win in his first game at the helm and the Roosters’ critics had more ammunition.

“Some of the opinions this year were harsh but we weren't good enough, we weren't happy with where we were at,” Roosters coach Trent Robinson reflected after the semi-final loss to the Storm.

“We didn't play well enough at different points at the start of the season and the middle of the season, we should have been better.

“It’s nice to pump up the end and try and cover that over but if we want to be the best we can possibly be, we have to be honest about the way we started the season.

“People have to be careful about writing us off too soon, because we are a good club, we do have star players but we have a really good soul about as well.

"We will keep coming and we will keep fighting and we'll play a really tough brand of footy at the same time.

"People were writing things quite early about how we were and why we were the way that we were, but the senior players and coaches knew we weren't at the level and we talked about that and we just went 'keep going, keep working at it', and I love how we stuck together."

Of those star players Robinson would’ve been looking to for inspiration when the chips were down, his first-choice spine of James Tedesco, Sam Walker, Luke Keary and Brandon Smith were restricted to just eight games together through a mix of injury, Origin duty and Walker’s demotion to NSW Cup.

Arriving at Bondi Junction amid plenty of hype and expectation, Smith took time to gel with his new teammates and then missed five games with a thumb injury before exploding to life as the Roosters won five straight to surge into the finals.

Having overcome a debilitating knee injury and regained his confidence in NSW Cup, Walker returned late in the season to play his part in the revival, offering Roosters fans a glimpse into what lies ahead in 2024 if the big four are fit and firing.

With freakish finisher Dom Young slotting in on the end of a classy backline in 2024 the Roosters will again be among the premiership favourites, but they will need to get out of the blocks a whole lot quicker than they did this year.

One of the men who helped put the spark back into their campaign was 20-year-old Sandon Smith, who debuted in Round 14 against the Bulldogs and played every game from there to the gut-wrenching finish against the Storm.

A clear sign of his growing maturity and confidence was his slashing line break and pinpoint long pass to Lindsay Collins to set up the try that got his team back level with 14 minutes to play at AAMI Park.

Also standing tall was prop Terrell May in just his 26th career game, ripping into the highly touted Storm pack as he racked up 131 run metres – the sixth game in a row he had topped the 100-metre mark.

Throw in uber talented back-rower Siua Wong, who made a huge impression in his 10 games late in the season, and there’s good reason for optimism that the foundation club’s next premiership isn’t too far away.

“To have the confidence to go after that, even a month ago Sandon was probably just drifting left and looking for Nat [Butcher] or Luke [Keary] in those moments, where he took it on tonight,” Robinson said.

“The guys who have debuted this year and come through in their first year or two of playing have given us energy and have really stood up in critical times and that bodes well for the future but the present isn’t pretty for us right now.

"It's devastating to finish because we felt like we found our team the longer this season went, we found our heart."