A veteran pundit has slammed the Roosters’ decision to rest several of their stars in the final week of the regular season.
Opting to manage a number of their key players ahead of the opening week of the final, the move ultimately failed to pay off as the Roosters suffered a fourth-straight defeat against the Panthers.
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Now facing a sudden-death clash against the Cronulla Sharks, coach Trent Robinson’s surprising decision has come under fresh scrutiny.
“Did you think it was a good idea the Roosters rested players?” co-host Braith Anasta said to kick off NRL 360.
CODE Sports reporter Brent Read replied, “Well, they lost the game, so you could argue it wasn’t. They lost the game of footy.”
“Who knows what would’ve happened if they played blokes last week. Now they’ve lost four games in a row and now they’ve got to go to a sudden-death game.”
“Don’t you think this is too harsh?” Anasta asked.
Read replied, “It’s not harsh. They lost. It’s fact.”
“Let me talk,” Anasta said.
“Well, that’s a fact, mate,” Read fired back.
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Read then pointed out the Roosters failure to capitalise in the opening ten minutes of the second-half when Nathan Cleary was sent to the sin bin, leaving the Panthers to 12-men on the field.
“They played against 12 men on the field when the best player wasn’t on the field. They didn’t create anything. Nearly doesn’t get you over the line,” Read said.
“Do you think they’re gone?” Anasta asked.
“I didn’t say they’re gone. I don’t think they can win the comp but they might win next week,” Read replied.
“I think it exposed their absence of Sam Walker. In that ten-minute period, if they had Sam, I think they would have scored points, so I think it is on their halves.”
Despite previously arguing with Read over whether the criticism was too harsh, Anasta agreed the halves were to blame but singled out Daly Cherry-Evans rather than Hugo Savala.
“I think it’s on DCE, not Savala,” Anasta said.
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It comes as Daly Cherry-Evans’ role in the final Roosters attacking set was put under the microscope after he failed to convert a field goal which would have levelled the scores.
With the Roosters down by a single point, Anasta questioned why the former Queensland skipper telegraphed the set, giving Penrith plenty of time to set their defensive line.
“They actually don’t really attempt to score at all, which I found surprising. You look at Cherry-Evans in the background,” Anasta said.
“He’s just setting up for the field goal. They are just running one out. Cherry-Evans is telegraphing this.
“He went on play three. I would’ve waited to play four or five because he telegraphed it, they read it.
Fellow NRL 360 co-host Gorden Tallis also expressed his shock as to why Cherry-Evans wasn’t positioned deeper, which would have given him more time and space to attempt the shot.
Tallis added, “Why wasn’t he deeper? He can hit them from 30.”
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Continuing to speak, Anasta doubled down on his criticism of the veteran halfback and insisted the absence of Sam Walker – who is currently on the sidelines with an injury – was exposed when the moment mattered most.
“I thought the whole setup was negative. You’re trailing by one and you’ve got a full set of six off the scrum,” Anasta added.
“Plays one, two (and) three you’re trying to score. Play four, I understand because he goes on play four. It wasn’t ideal.
“This is what they paid him for. This is what they brought him to the club for and unfortunately he missed it.
“DCE’s had a good year because he’s able to come in and out of the game. There’s no way Sam’s not trying to score. He’s trying to create opportunities.
“He tried to control the whole set, which was quite negative and didn’t ice the moment when he had the chance. He definitely would’ve kicked this if Sam was there.”