Rating the season so far at the half way point

[SamKerrSimp]

We're at the half way point of our season so what is everyone's take and rating of how things have gone so far?

I had no expectations for this team with all the players we have lost and all the youngsters who have been given a chance so I am pleasantly surprised. I was only interested in seeing the youngsters getting a chance and proving themselves and all of them have passed with flying colours, the future is bright and exciting.

It was great to finally see Robert Toia get a shot after last year's season ending injury, we finally got to see Xavier Va'a crack first grade, Blake Steep has been impressive, Salesi Foketi has been impressive, Taylor Losalu had one of the most iconic performances in a Roosters jersey for some time now.

Naufahu Whyte has been the standout performer for me, his improvement has been rapid and we're at a point now that without him we are going to struggle, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Siua Wong have been good developers too this season.

The Cronulla win was one for the ages that was truly one of the all time great Roosters victories, the Anzac Day mauling was special, the win up in Brisbane against the Broncos was great too.

The only down side for me is that we have lost 3 maybe 4 games that I think we win if Sam Walker were fit, having the talented halfback missing against the Titans, Souths, Bulldogs and maybe Warriors was the difference maker. Getting smashed in round 1 was a sour start to the season particularly since the Broncos aren't that good but the team has rallied from that poor showing.

I'd give the team a C rating so far, we've had some extraordinary wins which outweigh some of the bad losses with a young team that is developing and showing promise for the future. It just sucks that Sam Walker has been unavailable because you could add a few more wins if he was fit.

[Red.]

I agree with almost everything you say.

If only the boys could cut out the unforced errors and improve their discipline we could do good things in this competition.

[SamKerrSimp]

I agree with almost everything you say.

If only the boys could cut out the unforced errors and improve their discipline we could do good things in this competition.

Trent Robinson teams love a risky pass so I can forgive poor handling there but last night's ball handling was a pretty bad one there's no hiding from it. The positive is that we made the Raiders go around us to finally crack our defence despite the fact that tried time and time again to go through the middle and I love that.

Comapre the Roosters so far to the Broncos and Knights:

Broncos look disinterested and clock off as soon as anything goes against them, they're a team full of stars with big name players and they pack it in every week and their depth has failed them miserably. On the other hand our team has thrived under adversity, the more players that are unavailable the more they dig in and make it harder for the opposition and the youngsters step up and give it 100%.

Then look at Newcastle, completely rudderless with no direction, no halves pairing that works in the last couple of years and no end in sight for their misery yet we can lose Sam Walker for half of this season and bring up Sandon Smith and Hugo Savala who have both had great moments this season and both lead us at different times to great wins.

Things aren't as bad as they seem but people can see the negativity or positivity they choose.

[BTRD]

For me, fairly happy. - Whyte has been bloody fantastic.
RD 1 was a car wreck. Losing to the Titans and Wabbits was not good. And letting the Panfers put 40 on us was HORRIFIC.
Way, way, way too many ERRORS. I seriously don't think the coach is concerned by it because he doesn't seem to want to fix it. ie; "If you continually make errors I will put you in the reggies ".
Anyway, good to see some new faces, young faces, get a crack and do some really good things.
The Nawa man is a character, just gotta catch more bombs.
Would like to see more straight and hard running up the guts by the big boys. Start with the Concreter.
Like everyone on here, love my ROOSTERS.
3 byes from rd's 10 to 17 is bloody stupid.
Fingers crossed we can start a nice winning run - starting with Newy.

[bondi.boy]

One year of rebuilding is enough...it must not continue next season.
A first grade team that can win plenty of games and definitely make the 8 must be ready to go from round one in 2026.
This 'Academy' stuff is all very well, but winning matches is the name if the game, not how many academy players you have in your team.
We're rebuilding...academy players...and are towards the bottom of the ladder.
Dogs went out and basically bought a team...and are near the top of the ladder.

[caz]

definitely a pass so far. when you consider how much experience we lost at the end of last year and the fact that two of our starting spine haven't played i was fearing a 2016 repeat. i would have taken being 2 points out of the 8 going into round 14 in a heartbeat. the fact that we could so easily have been in the 8 is both frustrating and cause for hope that we might come home with a wet sail.

[DP1990]

Let's be honest .... it could be worse !

We all know a lot of people said we would absolutely suck and in some cases, (some games) - it's kinda true, but this is a side that sent out 5x origin players for duties and have smacked some top of the ladder sides or so called perennial heavyweights. I think we've seen some close games slip out of our hands so our expectations have probably adjusted over-time making us think and believe "we are better" and should be higher on the ladder.

We are definitely a top 8 side and we've got the potential to give any side a run for their money on any given day, but as per usual we've got some fixing up to-do (errors, discipline, patience, basic stuff). If we fix these things and get Walker back in time and add to that, the usual "Robbo times our run for the back end" tweak at some point over the next 2x months heading into September ... who bloody knows where we finish up !?

[milanja]

Frustrating

I also went into the season not expecting too much after all the retirements, injuries, and players being moved on(some unexpectedly)

after getting spanked round 1, I almost felt at ease that the remainder of the season I’d just enjoy and watch the young kids play for future spots.

then, we beat panthers, were well in the games that we lost and should of won, we are two points from the spoon, and two points from the 8.

its one of the strangest seasons that I can remember, a couple wins throws you into the 8, and walker is back soon, but how much expectation are we going to put on him now?

great to see the kids coming through and playing well, but frustrating watching some of our experienced players not doing so good.

add to that the circus of potential player transfers, it’s been a frustrating season, yesterday before the raiders game, zorba picked us to play in the grand final v Storm, plenty see potential, but then we put on that display against the raiders, to put us back in bottom 4 contention.

bye,knights,cowboys,bye,tigers,dragons. 12points up for grabs if we are going to be a chance.

[ism22]

Mixed feelings TBH. We've lost a lot of players and rebuilt quite successfully. However there's no glossing over the fact we're outside the 8, have lost a LOT of games we probably shoulda won and really our only player missing is Walker.

There's a lot of hope and potential on display which has surprised me. However, there's an increasingly narrow window of opportunity that seems to be slipping away from us. I hope it doesn't and that having played the Doggies, Faders and Sharks we can take down teams like the Knights, Cowboys, Tigpies, Dragons and the like. We've shown that we can, but will we? IDK! We've also shown we can cr@p away games through unforced errors and the like. Seriously WTF was that last Faders try? Sorry but it was soooo frigging awkward!!!

[Thirteen]

Lots of ups and downs this season but I’m enjoying it much more than I expected to. Watching the development of the young guys is fantastic. I much prefer watching them over the more experienced players.

This is an excellent thread Sam.

[Rooster90]

Have exceeded my expectations especially after round 1
What hurts is that we should of actually won so many more games and be sitting pretty in the top 4....

[BondiBob]

One year of rebuilding is enough...it must not continue next season.
A first grade team that can win plenty of games and definitely make the 8 must be ready to go from round one in 2026.
This 'Academy' stuff is all very well, but winning matches is the name if the game, not how many academy players you have in your team.
We're rebuilding...academy players...and are towards the bottom of the ladder.
Dogs went out and basically bought a team...and are near the top of the ladder.

Unfortunately our recruitment and retention is questionable my thoughts are no more big name players waste of money

[Mickie Lane]

I give the Chooks a 10 out of 7

[ism22]

Unfortunately our recruitment and retention is questionable my thoughts are no more big name players waste of money

To be fair, Cheese is the only big name player who's failed? Teddy, Cronk and SBW have all been brilliant.

Sua'ali'i was a weird signing for a kid who promptly left before proving anything. We then poached one of Yawnion's best and IMO his development's well ahead of Sua'ali'i.

IMO part of the puzzle is choosing somebody who actually wants to be here and will take 'unders' (by NRL standards... we're talking $800k a year instead of demanding $1.2m) for the good of the team.

[Steggles]

Excitement would be the overwhelming feeling about this year. Give them a 6/10.

Sure I get frustrated, disappointed and angry from time to time, as I know we have it in us to be better. But then I have to remember that the thing that’s driving my excitement is the crop of young guys coming through and starting their first grade careers in our colours. They will be our future for many years to come and they are already playing well beyond my expectations. We actually play with more enthusiasm and conviction when we have our established stars out; look at what we did to the Sharks without the 5 Origin players, Nat Butcher and Sam Walker.

I personally don’t think we’ve lost a thing with the retirements at the end of last year; if anything some of those retirees were holding back the youth that we are now getting to see do their thing.

What frustrates me the most is the continual errors and dumb footy that seem to be part of our DNA. My god we know how to blow a game.

Still a bit of deadwood we need to deal with, but we are getting there.

And I agree with 13 that it’s an excellent thread.