Roosters v Sharks Post Game Thoughts

[top_joe]

Spence and Mullet were hopeless, Rads 4/10. Gus not much better. All of them are experience and on good coin.

Fahu a shining light. Toops the best ever in the air and out on the wing catching a cold all night.

[theGman]

Disappointed with the loss, particularly our inability to compete at or above 80% like some of the other finalists.

Livid however with the lack of effort shown towards their last try to Toby Rudolph. Farkin soft....embarrassing .

I want to see more of our favourite Foketi in 2026.

[ChookMaster]

Our go forward in the middle is a worry. We struggled again last night.

We cannot have both starting props average under 100M a game.

I understand Collins is a workhorse but when he had the mullet I remember him being known for being pure chaotic on the ball and bending the line, he now struggles to gain any PCM.

Spenny does not do enough to justify his pay check. He is still better suited to coming off the bench and making an impact there than starting IMO. 800K is a lot.
Marky is a freak and it will be such a cocktease if he leaves us to go back to Union. I can’t remember a winger having that much aura around them ball in hand, man he can do it all that bloke. Freak.

Good year overall though, we finished in the 8 when many on here ( myself included ) and in the media wrote us off after the titans loss at home. We rebounded well and the talent is there.

[Bates]

Skinny 10 whole game chocked us ..2 of the 4 bunker flips resulted them in scoring and yes Walker was crap.Team couldn't adapt to the game..all they had to do was get deeper..which they did a.maybe 3 times...they were flat all night.Dissapointed in Collins and Spencer very soft.Watson was rubbish too .Only Teddy And Marky mark had a go.

Playing as flat as we've done this season is a high risk strategy!

Pros - Harder for the defending team as they have less time to read the play and make the required adjustments. Sammy loves playing flat. It suits his short kicking game and his heads up style of play. Sandon struggled as his decision making under pressure is poor.

Cons - Less time and space to get your plays right. Clogged backlines if your timing is out. 5th tackle option is often compromised as the kickers time is limited.The inability to build pressure if you're constantly turning the ball over. Momentum swings and the fatigue that comes with the extra defending.

Sharks were average. A good team would've lapped us last night.

Simple fix is to stand deeper as you've suggested and to have faith in what you're doing. Panthers stand deeper than any other team in the comp and they are the benchmark imo.

[Waylander]

Disappointed with the loss, particularly our inability to compete at or above 80% like some of the other finalists.

Livid however with the lack of effort shown towards their last try to Toby Rudolph. Farkin soft....embarrassing .

I want to see more of our favourite Foketi in 2026.

I agree. I think that kid can become something special. He hits like a truck and has excellent leg speed.

What I’m expecting however, is to see DLS Va’a as the favoured option at the beginning of the season. With a full preseason under his belt to rebuild his fitness, his size makes him a very appealing proposition.

[Chook2]

Our go forward in the middle is a worry. We struggled again last night.

We cannot have both starting props average under 100M a game.

I understand Collins is a workhorse but when he had the mullet I remember him being known for being pure chaotic on the ball and bending the line, he now struggles to gain any PCM.

Spenny does not do enough to justify his pay check. He is still better suited to coming off the bench and making an impact there than starting IMO. 800K is a lot.
Marky is a freak and it will be such a cocktease if he leaves us to go back to Union. I can’t remember a winger having that much aura around them ball in hand, man he can do it all that bloke. Freak.

Good year overall though, we finished in the 8 when many on here ( myself included ) and in the media wrote us off after the titans loss at home. We rebounded well and the talent is there.

Lindsay is defensively solid but lacks the yardage
Spencer hits hard but short and sharp bursts / like you said does a job but more a $5-600k prop over an $800k one
Whyte is a gem but needs help
May was the perfect 4th prop and foil for them playing big minutes and making big mtrs and offloads
but for whatever reason he was moved on but we certainly could have used someone like him going forward

interesting to see if the Vaa or Seve bros or Magele, Uini step up on the next year or two
But with the nrl getting quicker fine line between big units and guys who can get around the field well and move quickly

[theGman]

I agree. I think that kid can become something special. He hits like a truck and has excellent leg speed.

What I’m expecting however, is to see DLS Va’a as the favoured option at the beginning of the season. With a full preseason under his belt to rebuild his fitness, his size makes him a very appealing proposition.

Agree. Who doesn't make the cut on the bench IYO?

[Michael Jones]

Posters maybe disappointed with the result but plenty of upsides as many of the squad have their best football in front of them still.

The Sharks are not a average side though as some on here say as they finished 5th - The Roosters were not able to capitalise on their field position advantage in both halves and Sam Walkers kicking game was not up to his usual standard - too short or too long.

They did their best but execution let them down.

You need to give some credit to the opposition when they beat you

[gragra]

Watson is the nsw blues utility and best utility in the comp
none of the guys you listed above are big and you need someone that can cover multiple positions which he can
he can come on at hooker, lock or halves
savala is not a 14 he is a 6 or not on the 17
what would Savala come on and play?

you can still have a big bench around Watson with Leniu and others there. But we do need another middle I bellieve eg prop

also the above players are all smaller sized back rowers - need some point of difference with size and impact coming off the bench - not 4 x 95kg middles that all play the same way

Agree with all that. The big unit in the squad not mentioned is Vaa. He would be 120kg and 185cm+ and could be a real point of difference.

[roosterproud]

my biggest disappointment was errors of course. but at the end of each half Sammy didn't play eyes up footy but stuck to Robbos plan of "give it to Marky". so wrong. what's wrong with a grubber. bombs to 2poo, spencer or Wongy receiving the ball 2 passes past the ruck instead of standing still getting the ball at first receiver. we are better than that.

[ism22]

Agree with all that. The big unit in the squad not mentioned is Vaa. He would be 120kg and 185cm+ and could be a real point of difference.

Yeah how's he tracking after the sickness? Was some weird sepsis or something? I'd completely forgotten about both of them...

[roosterchook]

As long as we don’t fix the cause of our errors we can forget about another gf appearance for a very long time. They played once again a Harlem globe trotters all out speed game no matter accuracy or where the pass was thrown even on the ground coming out of our own half. It’s a farce. What team does crazy things like that in an elimination final. This obsession with speed by Robbo needs to be balanced with grind, good completion rates and getting good field position and putting pressure on our opponents. Only one globe trotter on the team and that’s Marky Mark. The rest of the boys just can’t play this impossible style. It doesn’t work we need to find a style that’s more consistent.

[FiLL]

^Definitely agree there.

It's been the same crap every year from them for the last 5+ years, they're their own worst enemy. You can't compete with the best with the amount of errors they seem to make in games and giving away stupid penalties constantly. It doesn't matter who they buy or develop, if they don't fix up those, they will never win another gf.

Another very disappointing game and way to go out, the Sharks didn't necessarily win that one, the Roosters lost it which has been the story of the last few seasons. Not sure what they work on during the week or in the off-season, but something's got to change, because as the old saying goes, if nothing changes, then nothing changes.

A lot of positives about the season though, blooding so many rookies, there's a great pool of talent at the club and they should all have learnt alot from this year, hopeful for the future, as long as they sort out the basics first!

[Waylander]

Agree. Who doesn't make the cut on the bench IYO?

What I expect to happen, is that Robbo sticks with the 3 bigger boys starting, so the bench would most likely be:

Watson
Nat Bucher
DLS Va'a
Wong

What I would like to see is return Radley to lock, where he is best suited, and play Wong on the right edge. Collins & Whyte start at prop, and Leniu comes off the bench for impact. I think that's a better balance and at our very best we had Radley in the middle playing link man and helping to shore up the middle.

It's very hard on Egan, Steep & Foketi, but that's the reality of a 30 man squad ... some blokes don't get a game without injuries, suspensions or severe form slumps.

[Bansai Pipeline]

I’m actually angrier about the loss now than I was on the night.

i suppose because I always knew we had another Eels shitshow in us.

look at how open these finals are.

But we couldn’t step us and HOLD ONTO THE PILL