2002 vs 2013

[Deleted member 10972]

When comparing defence, don?t forget that the 02-04 sides were the best defensively in an era of high scoring games. That?s not to take away from the 6 shutouts this year which is quite simply amazing.

The 2003 team sometimes gets left behind in the wake of 02 and 04 but that team didn?t lose a game by more than 8 points until the GF which they lost by 12. This years team was also great in that area with the round 1 loss of 18 points being by far the highest with the Warriors (11 points) being next highest.

To be fair, the 2003 team is basically 2004 without Tupou (hadn't debuted yet), Cusack (injured) and Hodges (injured). Lomu, Catic and Byrne aren't exactly upgrades on those three. But I guess when people refer to the 2004 team, they are referring essentially to the 2003/2004 squad that was the same team bar a few miniscule changes in which 2004 is generally considered to be stronger.

 

[Cliffhanger]

Somebody needs to make a best 17 and worst 17 of the last 12 years. Actually let's all do it. Players need to have played at least ten first grade matches. It must be based on their performances for us, and not their potential! You may bea little lenient with position, eg a five eighth who's never played at half back, but is a playmaking 5/8th may be placed asst halfback. You can be like Mini 05 form etc.

The shocks will come from who misses out.

 

[Captain Apollo]

2002

Phillips, Minichiello, Hodges, Hegarty/Cross, Mullins, Fittler, Wing, Cusack, Bonetti, Cayless, Fletcher, Fitzgibbon, Ricketson, BENCH: Crocker, Flannery, Morley, Lomu (Kidwell, Hood, Robinson reserves)

Cross barely played in 2002. He did his leg against the Northern Eagles in Round 4 at Brookvale Oval that year and never played again that year. As such I wouldn't even consider him for 2002.

So which second row player makes way for Morley, Fitzy or SBW? He only played about 10 games in 2002 and half were up front or on the bench. It doesn't matter if he plays in the 10 jersey or 11.

I would have Morley in the second row with SBW and move Fitzy to lock to be honest and Jason Cayless in the front row with JWH. Using Morley in the ftont row like Stuart did from 2003 onwards is where his manic usage and collection of second rowers started in my opinion thinking that second and front rowers were completely interchangeable.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

I just can't bring myself to leave Ricko out of the team tbh. Jason Cayless is the one I would definitely change and put him in the team somewhere but I was all on the Sam Moa love machine (slight homo) when the team was made.

When Moz was played in the second row mostly from 01 to about 04/05 wasn't he playing prop for Britain?

The forward stocks of both teams are so good I don't think anybody has mentioned that I left Fletcher out of the team. I wonder if we could fulfil Sticky's lifelong dream of an entire team made of back rowers that played in a grand final for us? :lol:

Flannery
Aubusson
Guerra
Ricketson
Solomona
Fittler (cheating :lol
Williams
Morley
Crocker
Myles
Fletcher
Tupou
Fitzgibbon

Cordner
Conn
Robinson
FPN

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Somebody needs to make a best 17 and worst 17 of the last 12 years. Actually let's all do it. Players need to have played at least ten first grade matches. It must be based on their performances for us, and not their potential! You may bea little lenient with position, eg a five eighth who's never played at half back, but is a playmaking 5/8th may be placed asst halfback. You can be like Mini 05 form etc.

The shocks will come from who misses out.

A team from 2000 to 2013 wouldn't be too hard to pick but Matt Sing would definitely get on the wing for me and AWOL would be the half back. Might have to find room for Solomona too, otherwise my team would basically be the one I named already. Don't think anyone else that didn't play in the 2002 or 2013 GF wins would make it. Carney maybe. Finch? :lol:

 

[saint.nick]

I think the 2003 side was stronger than the 2002, but they choked in the face of an unexpectedly strong GF opponent. The 2003 side had been ruthless all year whereas the '02 side came from well back.

This year's team was much better than either of them.

You didn't choke in 03. Penrith were minor premiers. But if anything, 2004 was much more of a choke than 03. I'm not saying you actually did, but you were minor premiers that year.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Hmmm, best combined team over the last 12 years (2002-2013, qualification 10 games):

1. Anthony Minichiello
2. Brett Mullins
3. Michael Jennings
4. Justin Hodges
5. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck
6. Brad Fittler (c)
7. Mitchell Pearce
8. Jared-Warea Hargreaves
9. Jake Friend
10. Adrian Morley
11. Sonny-Bill Williams
12. Craig Fitzgibbon
13. Luke Ricketson

14. Sam Moa
15. Jason Cayless
16. Boyd Cordner
17. Craig Wing

No way any other team in the NRL could match that.

Worst team coming up!

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

What's the qualification for worst team? I'd say all of these guys played at least 10 games, some of them over 50 games x We had a lot of shit players only play 1 or 2 games though pretty rough to include them

1. Jordan Tansey
2. Sonny Tuigamala
3. Justin Carney
4. Chris Walker
5. Vince Mellars
6. Ben Jones
7. Brett Finch
8. Charlie Tonga
9. Nick Kouparitsas - the worst Roosters player I have ever seen
10. Shane Shackleton
11. Braith Anasta
12. Tinirau Arona
13. Setaimata Sa

14. Jamie Soward
15. Mark Riddell
16. Brent Grose
17. Shaun Foley

Coach: Chris Anderson

 

[Cliffhanger]

Hahai must have blocked out the memory of some of those players playing for us because I forgot all about them until now.

 

[Tommy Smith]

Haha Piggy Riddell. f**k I forgot we re-signed him. What a horrible era that was which ive almost entirely blocked from memory.

Harsh on Arona. He's not a star by any means but he seems like a great clubman.

I'd find spots for Chris Beattie and Brett Firman.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Chris Beattie :lol: forgot all about him. I threw Arona in because he's shit and couldn't think of anyone else who got a real go that sucked.

I thought about Firman but he was injured most of the time so let him off. Sam Obst would get a run if this went back to 2001 lol

Between Walker, Sa, Finch, Anasta and Shackleton there would be close to 350 games between them. How horrifying is that?

 

[Cliffhanger]

Firmo had potential it was just never honed. Or maybe he hit his potential in his rookie season.

 

[TheDalek079]

What about Mark Edmunson or whoever it was who was supposed to be the next morley?

 

[Tommy Smith]

Edmondson, along with Steve Crouch, was the worst I've ever seen in a Roosters Jersey.

But only played 2 or 3 games.

 

[Danish]

I wouldn't even rank the 2002 team as the 2nd best roosters side I've seen.

Personally the order is:

1) 2013
2) 2004
3) 2002

The 2004 team lost 4 games all year, were minor premiers, but choked in the final 40 mins of the season.

The 2002 team were stupendously good, but were also less consistent over the year. Rode an unstoppable wave of momentum to the premiership though. Great team.

This year though, we have just been unbelievable. Personally I think the competition in 2013 is stronger than in 2002 and 2004 (the bunnies were complete poo back then, more so than parra now). Yet despite this we still dominated the comp. the 2013 team also overcame huge penalty deficits that the 2002 and 2004 sides didn't have to contend with.

Honestly I can't think of another time that I was so confident of a premiership so far out. As far as I was concerned the premiership was decided before a finals game had been played. We had too much skill, precision, grit, and belief to be stopped by anyone

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Yeah I agree with Danish, 2004 was the better performing side and probably the best year of the year. Imagine if we had Hodges focused like Jennings and no Walker or Finch? Gavin Lestervshoukd have played firsts over Walker IMO

I disagree about the competiton though. Dogs, Panthers and Brisbane on the top 4 and StGeorge Illawarra were building to their mid 2000's form.

I read we've used our fewest amount of players in a season for 35 years or something, if we had that in 2002 we would have been minor premiers IMO. 2002 was a great team that rarely got on the park together. 2003-04 saw what they could so.

How blessed are we though? Even our mid to late 90's was quality.

 

[adamkungl]

What's the qualification for worst team? I'd say all of these guys played at least 10 games, some of them over 50 games x We had a lot of shit players only play 1 or 2 games though pretty rough to include them

1. Jordan Tansey
2. Sonny Tuigamala
3. Justin Carney
4. Chris Walker
5. Vince Mellars
6. Ben Jones
7. Brett Finch
8. Charlie Tonga
9. Nick Kouparitsas - the worst Roosters player I have ever seen
10. Shane Shackleton
11. Braith Anasta
12. Tinirau Arona
13. Setaimata Sa

14. Jamie Soward
15. Mark Riddell
16. Brent Grose
17. Shaun Foley

Coach: Chris Anderson

Christ almighty some of those names remind me of dark days... Kouparitsis, f**king hell.

 

[Tonearm Terrorwrist]

Koups nearly played in the 2010 GF too :lol:

 

[adamkungl]

James Aubusson was robbed. f**k Smith

 

[Choppies]

Koups nearly played in the 2010 GF too :lol:

He never played in the Finals that year. Thankfully his last game was Rd 26.