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SYDNEY ROOSTERS coach Brian Smith has declared his under-siege team can win this year's premiership even if their best player, the reigning Dally M medallist Todd Carney, does not play for them again all season.
Carney, 24, began consulting medical professionals yesterday in a bid to identify the condition - suspected to be depression - he has been suffering from and which, it is believed, has contributed to his alcohol use. The Roosters have stood down the five-eighth indefinitely after he broke an agreement reached with the club last month that he would not drink again this season.
Roosters officials and staff held a series of meetings yesterday to discuss how to proceed in helping Carney deal with his problems but one thing is certain: he will not return to the team any time soon.
Even so, Smith is adamant the Roosters can go one better than their grand final appearance of last year, despite having made a shaky start to their campaign even before the off-field drama concerning Carney and teammate Anthony Watts in the past four days.
They have won two games from six, the latest result a 24-6 loss to Brisbane in Gosford last Saturday night when Carney and Watts, both injured and on alcohol bans, were out drinking in Coogee and then Kings Cross. One of the pre-season premiership favourites, they have slipped to 10th in betting with TAB Sportsbet at $21.
''You bet,'' Smith said when asked if the Roosters could win the title, his first as a coach. ''We can if we improve enough on where we're at so far. It's not what you do in March or April that matters. It's how much you improve on that. We aren't much different where we are now to where we were last year. We've got a bit of stuff to sort out - we haven't played to our capabilities to this point in time.''
On the task of achieving that success without Carney, who has not yet had a period of time attached to his suspension, Smith said: ''If he doesn't get back we'll have to.''
The coach rejected suggestions the Roosters were in turmoil as a result of their disappointing form coupled with the Carney and Watts matters. Watts will appear in Waverley Local Court today after being charged with assaulting his former girlfriend . Smith said the squad had coped well with the intense subsequent media microscope, including Tuesday's training when news crews were camped at Moore Park for most of the day.
''Crisis is a word that's overused in sport and would be well misplaced in this particular situation,'' he said. ''Basically you know when there's that many cameras there that there's some sort of debacle that has taken place, or what the media thinks is a debacle. It can be a distraction but I thought the session [on Tuesday] was pretty good.''
Smith makes no excuses for any delay in club officials reaching a resolution about how to move forward in helping Carney. ''We're talking about a super talented player and a really good bloke,'' he said. ''His career was potentially at stake and our season and our future as a club was going to be affected so it calls for calm heads everywhere and no more importantly than mine.''
Roosters chief Steve Noyce said Carney was in reasonable spirits when he met him yesterday.
''He is OK but when your picture is all over the back and front pages of the newspapers, for all the wrong reasons, no human beings would want that,'' Noyce said.
Carney, 24, began consulting medical professionals yesterday in a bid to identify the condition - suspected to be depression - he has been suffering from and which, it is believed, has contributed to his alcohol use. The Roosters have stood down the five-eighth indefinitely after he broke an agreement reached with the club last month that he would not drink again this season.
Roosters officials and staff held a series of meetings yesterday to discuss how to proceed in helping Carney deal with his problems but one thing is certain: he will not return to the team any time soon.
Even so, Smith is adamant the Roosters can go one better than their grand final appearance of last year, despite having made a shaky start to their campaign even before the off-field drama concerning Carney and teammate Anthony Watts in the past four days.
They have won two games from six, the latest result a 24-6 loss to Brisbane in Gosford last Saturday night when Carney and Watts, both injured and on alcohol bans, were out drinking in Coogee and then Kings Cross. One of the pre-season premiership favourites, they have slipped to 10th in betting with TAB Sportsbet at $21.
''You bet,'' Smith said when asked if the Roosters could win the title, his first as a coach. ''We can if we improve enough on where we're at so far. It's not what you do in March or April that matters. It's how much you improve on that. We aren't much different where we are now to where we were last year. We've got a bit of stuff to sort out - we haven't played to our capabilities to this point in time.''
On the task of achieving that success without Carney, who has not yet had a period of time attached to his suspension, Smith said: ''If he doesn't get back we'll have to.''
The coach rejected suggestions the Roosters were in turmoil as a result of their disappointing form coupled with the Carney and Watts matters. Watts will appear in Waverley Local Court today after being charged with assaulting his former girlfriend . Smith said the squad had coped well with the intense subsequent media microscope, including Tuesday's training when news crews were camped at Moore Park for most of the day.
''Crisis is a word that's overused in sport and would be well misplaced in this particular situation,'' he said. ''Basically you know when there's that many cameras there that there's some sort of debacle that has taken place, or what the media thinks is a debacle. It can be a distraction but I thought the session [on Tuesday] was pretty good.''
Smith makes no excuses for any delay in club officials reaching a resolution about how to move forward in helping Carney. ''We're talking about a super talented player and a really good bloke,'' he said. ''His career was potentially at stake and our season and our future as a club was going to be affected so it calls for calm heads everywhere and no more importantly than mine.''
Roosters chief Steve Noyce said Carney was in reasonable spirits when he met him yesterday.
''He is OK but when your picture is all over the back and front pages of the newspapers, for all the wrong reasons, no human beings would want that,'' Noyce said.
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