Do you hear that?
It’s the sound of the Roosters’ premiership window slamming shut.
Yes, it’s the all-powerful Roosters but any club which loses five Test players from its starting side is going to slide.
The Tricolours have lost Joey Manu and Joseph Suaali’i to rugby union, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Luke Keary to the Super League, and Sitili Tupouniua to the Bulldogs.
“That’s a lot of talent to lose from one footy side, if you look at that just on sheer talent, you have multiple grand final winners here,” Gorden Tallis said on Fox League.
Throw in fellow stars Brandon Smith and Sam Walker missing the first half of next season with ACL injuries and the Roosters will be doing well just to make the top eight.
The Roosters were among the favourites to win the 2024 title with their star-studded roster but they fell short, losing to the Storm in the preliminary final.
They finished third on the ladder and with the best attack in the competition but coach Trent Robinson will know this year was a huge opportunity missed.
All and sundry knew it was going to be a Panthers-Storm grand final and Robinson’s men were simply the best of the rest.
The Chooks’ campaign ended when they were unable to improve their shocking record against those two competition heavyweights.
Since the start of 2020, the Roosters have won just one of their past 22 games against Penrith and Melbourne.
Matty Johns believes that stat alone means Robinson must make wholesale changes to his approach and he believes the three-time premiership coach will start 2025 “under pressure”.
“I hear it all the time they say ‘Roosters football, the Roosters way.’ Well they’ve got to tear it up because it (isn’t) working,” Johns said on Fox League.
“Their inability to beat those sides isn’t about the roster, it is about the style of football they play.
“It’s a big season and a big off-season of self assessment.”
The task is only going to get tougher now the Roosters have a weaker squad heading into 2025, while the Storm have gotten stronger.
Going: Joseph Suaali’i (rugby union), Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (Hull KR), Joseph Manu (rugby union), Luke Keary (Catalans), Sitili Tupouniua (Bulldogs) and Michael Jennings (retiring)
Coming: Mark Nawaqanitawase (rugby union), Chad Townsend (Cowboys)
