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By attempting to sign Fifita it is quite obvious that Crighton was not seen as a priority. Crighton may see this as a snub and sign elsewhere (Penrith).
Fair enough but the club stood by him when he got his bipolar diagnosis and even when his form was below shit.
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Yep the whole "Gus is pissed off" thing is way overstated
Parra told Toops he was too tall and clumsy to be an NRL player
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I hope he stays but it’s not like we are short of middle forwards.Crichton opens up on future as Roosters star clears air over ‘emotional’ Fifita outburst
Crichton opens up on future as Roosters star clears air over ‘emotional’ Fifita outburst
212 points in five weeks: The secret sauce that finally has Roosters’ attack firing
By Dan Walsh
June 1, 2024 — 2.00pm
This time 12 months ago, the Roosters took on the Cowboys and couldn’t score - never looked like scoring either - for 79 minutes of a muddy, miserable Magic Round outing.
On Sunday, arguably the most analysed and scrutinised attack in the NRL takes on the Cowboys again.
The Roosters are now averaging almost 31 points a game (a try clear of the competition’s next best) and have clocked up 37 tries in the past five weeks against the Dragons, Broncos, Warriors, Sharks and Raiders.
Halfback Sam Walker debuted a dubious beard - to convince nightclub bouncers he is actually 21, according to teammates - before tearing St George Illawarra to shreds on Anzac Day.
He dubiously insists it is the Roosters’ lucky charm. But it is a pointer to his own maturing as a playmaker along with an emerging influence in the red, white and blue - where the likes of Connor Watson, Terrell May, Spencer Leniu and Angus Crichton have helped lift Trent Robinson’s side.
Walker has produced eight try-assists in the past five weeks but it’s his kicking game, under the tutelage of assistant, ex-Titans coach and one-time Roosters No.7 Justin Holbrook, that he’s managing especially well.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on it,” Walker says.
“I’ve always been confident with my kicking game, but again it feels like I know which kick to put on in different situations a bit better.
“Justo [Holbrook] has been really good, we’ve spent a lot of time working on it one-on-one, talking through certain situations and also going out onto the field and practicing it, visualising the different game scenarios and nailing it.
“It feels like for a long time we’ve hurt ourselves with errors and field position too. Attack gets pretty hard when you’re defending your line or coming off it all the time.
“So having guys like Spencer coming back in with quick play-the-balls, Gus [Crichton] is in amazing form, Terrell May’s been unbelievable all year, that’s probably a point of difference to last year.
“I’ve learnt about that balance of pulling the boys back a bit, and then when to let them go and we’ve all got a bit more freedom and confidence with it.”
In the days after that Magic Round mess last year, when only a Crichton try in the last minute saved the Roosters from being held scoreless, skipper James Tedesco was equal parts bewildered by, and scathing of, his team’s support play and effort areas around the ball
.
“As low as I’ve seen,” he fumed.
A year later, the Roosters’ 53.91 support plays each game, according to NRL.com, rank second only to Canterbury (58 per game).
Champion Data also pegs the Roosters’ 215.3 passes per game as the second least in the NRL, though their 12.4 offloads per game are the second most.
So less ball movement before the line - perhaps easier said than done when there’s so much talent out wide to get the ball to. More contact and a bid to shift the ball afterwards - a scary prospect considering all that talent waiting to get their hands on it.
Having shifted from bench utility to the starting side, Connor Watson had played his way into a NSW Origin debut before an untimely throat injury.
He and Brandon Smith have both thrived in their switched up roles that can be tweaked accordingly based on opposition and conditions.
Tedesco, meanwhile, might have lost his NSW jumper, but his strong 2024 form has only picked up throughout the Roosters’ winning run of the past five weeks.
“And we get him back now, usually he’s away for six weeks this time of year,” Joey Manu grins, well aware of the regular chin scratching outside the club about how he and Tedesco best fit into a backline given only one can wear the No.1.
“He’s been playing well all season, there’s no point for him to prove. Teddy’s already the man. He’s done everything in this game and he’s been really strong this year too.”
A year after questions around all that talent, for so little attacking pay-off, were at their loudest, the Roosters are strong again too.
