Every ones out to get the Sydney Roosters after a summer to forget

[Guest]

Let's call it the tail end of Sydney Roosters' aestas horribilus or disastrous summer.
First there was the loss of Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and James Maloney. Then we had the Mitchell Pearce incident, which is still probably too recent to refer to as "Poodlegate".
Boyd Cordner has a pectoral muscle injury and is out for three months.
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They copped it from the likes of this columnist – and the Canadian Rugby League – for going to a training camp in Dubai last weekend, oblivious to the fact the United Arab Emirates Rugby League boss Sol Mokdad had been imprisoned there last year and self-governed rugby league remained illegal.
Everyone seems out to get the chooks. Even Super League and a couple of its clubs.
Coach Trent Robinson believes the decision to bar them playing Catalans last week should have copped more than a bit of scrutiny as well.
But on the surface, it seems an open-and-shut case against the Roosters.
Super League is already under way. Surely a warm-up match isn't more important than a comp game, even against a glamorous NRL team who want everything to stop for them?
However….
Two of this weekend's matches also have no title attached to them – the Roosters-St Helens game and Wigan v Brisbane. Technically, Huddersfield earned a game but weren't interested. The World Club Series is an arbitrary competition anyway. Last year two of the Aussie teams came just because they wanted to.
So the line between the Roosters' proposed game against Catalans last week and the match they are playing at Langtree Park this Friday starts to look a bit blurry.
And there is a precedent – Manly and Melbourne were allowed in-season warm-up games against Harlequins in 2009 and 2010.
This is more about money and pettiness.
St Helens had to stump up $300,000 to bring the Bondi Boys to the northern hemisphere and, judging by Super League general manager Blake Solly's diplomatic quotes in the accompanying news story, they didn't just want Catalans profiting from their investment.
One straight fixture swap was the only thing required – Catalans v Hull moved to this coming weekend. But, Solly says, because the fixtures had already been announced, Hull weren't keen on changing.
Perhaps they had already chartered their private jet that took them to Perpignan on Saturday.
It's fair to say St Helens could have been a bit more altruistic. A game in the south of France wasn't going to hurt their walk-up this Friday. For all we know, they could have asked Catalans to help defray the cost and Catalans may have refused.
In any case, the game never happened and the Roosters will field a 20-year-old and 19-year-old in the halves this Friday.
When you offer to do something positive for the game, get knocked back and then cop it for disregarding the interests of the game with what you do instead, you know it's not your aestas.
Let's not talk about annuses of the horribilis kind.


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[Johnny.]

The other stuff with Boyd and Jared is unfortunate but Pearce behaving like a drugged out dickhead does not help.

[stephenj]

the pearce rubbish will be sorted but he may have to p-lay hard at wyong to get his place back? cords will recover as will jwh, jimmy bbq will continue to throw intercept passes at the sharks hope he does against us? rts will be under ever increasing pressure and will wilkt? hell be sniffing around about a return to easts but weve passed by him now, mitchel will eventually gain the nouse to be our fg fullback and fergo will reluctantly go back to the centres, skid will be found not guilty but maintain a centre spot for a while, jo burgess will slay them on the wing so much so toups will play with pearce at wyong a bit giving skid a chance back on his favoured wing spot, see its all coming together again eventually?

[stringaz]

Nice crystal ball you have there..........

[stephenj]

thought youd like it? im very glass half full, on a lighter note now i understand why we went to the world club challenge? we get to sell another expensive jersey! im sure it wont pay for all those business class seats to dubai and lindon plus pub stay etc..? but if it floats your boat go for it?

[2 weeks]

the pearce rubbish will be sorted but he may have to p-lay hard at wyong to get his place back? cords will recover as will jwh, jimmy bbq will continue to throw intercept passes at the sharks hope he does against us? rts will be under ever increasing pressure and will wilkt? hell be sniffing around about a return to easts but weve passed by him now, mitchel will eventually gain the nouse to be our fg fullback and fergo will reluctantly go back to the centres, skid will be found not guilty but maintain a centre spot for a while, jo burgess will slay them on the wing so much so toups will play with pearce at wyong a bit giving skid a chance back on his favoured wing spot, see its all coming together again eventually?

Why you use question mark instead of fullstop?

[Game Fowl]

the pearce rubbish will be sorted but he may have to p-lay hard at wyong to get his place back? cords will recover as will jwh, jimmy bbq will continue to throw intercept passes at the sharks hope he does against us? rts will be under ever increasing pressure and will wilkt? hell be sniffing around about a return to easts but weve passed by him now, mitchel will eventually gain the nouse to be our fg fullback and fergo will reluctantly go back to the centres, skid will be found not guilty but maintain a centre spot for a while, jo burgess will slay them on the wing so much so toups will play with pearce at wyong a bit giving skid a chance back on his favoured wing spot, see its all coming together again eventually?

Lovely work SJ - Do you do the weather ??