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I read this article on the Rleague website about the Roosters.
Let's go back to the start of the pre-season - experts predicting the Roosters will make the top 4 and Brad Fittler was to be the man to get them there.
Fans are confident and pumped for a big season. On paper the Roosters have a strong team full of representive players at their exposal. So why are the Roosters playing so poor this season? The warning signs were there for the Roosters and you can go back to the second half of the 2008 season. The Roosters were pretty successful in the first half of the season scoring majority of their tries from kicks. But that seemed to be all they had in their kit bag. Opposition teams worked out the Roosters game plan and shut them down. The Roosters started to lose games but still kept playing the same style of footy each game. This was a mistake and Fittler needed to step up and add some more variety to their game. This is something that never happened and the Roosters were out of the premiership race because of it.
Second mistake was to strip Craig Fitzgibbon of the captaincy. Fitzgibbon is the heart and soul of the Roosters and has been one of their best players year in and year out.
He's a true leader, but gets punted in favour of Braith Anasta, who isn't exactly a player or person you can look up too. Not something that needed to be done and more so when in Finals contention last year and the Roosters have lacked leadership ever since.
Third mistake the Roosters made was their recruitment and retention. They released players such as Amos Roberts, David Shillington and Anthony Tupou, who were key players for them and replaced them with a bunch of no bodies and previously did a big raid on the Bulldogs club at the expense of losing three good players. Did the Roosters believe they would still make the top 4 without these players? They must have and those players are playing great footy for the clubs they now play for.
Fittler finally caught on that he needed to do something about the Roosters attack. So during the pre-season he changes his halves combination. Ben Jones becomes the new five-eighth partnered with Mitchell Pearce with Anasta shifting to lock forward. Throughout the pre-season this is the combination they were playing with and went in to the trails with the same pair. But just before the season starts Fittler changes his halves back to Anasta and Pearce. This wasn't a great idea as the pre-season training and combinations became a huge waste of time.
The season starts and the Roosters are confident of beating their arch rivals South Sydney Rabbitohs. They get smashed 52-12 which was the biggest win the Rabbitohs have won against the Roosters in over 100 years of football and their season has been going down hill fast ever since.
They have won three games that weren't very convincing and only beating the lower placed teams Canberra, Cronulla and Parramatta.
The problems with the Roosters are a combination of both their players and head coach. The Roosters aren't playing like a team and are playing like individuals. They have nothing in attack and nothing in defence. They are currently the worst defensive team in the comp and by a long way. Their goal line defence doesn't exist. Newcastle punched holes through them each time they got down their end. It was embarrassing to watch. Each week the same result. No heart, no pride and no passion.
When the NSW State of Origin selectors named the 40-man preliminary squad there was a lot of out cry from Bondi way as only Pearce was named with Anasta, Fitzgibbon, Mark O'Meley and Willie Mason all notable omissions. Since the naming of the squad the Roosters have lost very convincingly against the Dragons, Storm, Knights and Panthers with only a token victory against the attack-less Sharks anything to show since the snubbed Roosters - notably Anasta and Mason vowed to fire up and prove the critics and selectors wrong.
The coach isn't getting the best out of his players and has been playing musical chairs with his team selections out of hope something may come off. For majority of the season the bench has had a winger or centre on it. Why? They come on for one half of footy and that's it. Wingers and centres don't need a rest on the field. The Roosters forwards have been getting beaten and that's because Fittler usually has two forward replacements on the bench.
One of their few bright spots has been youngster Sam Perrett and he was doing an outstanding job filling in for Anthony Minichiello at fullback only to be shafted out to the wing where his form continued to shine out. Last night Perrett was moved yet again into the centres where he was caught out of position when in reality he should have remained at fullback.
The fans are getting frustrated with their team and coach with out a doubt. The straw that broke the camels back would have to be the Penrith game. Penrith won the game 48-6, which was their biggest defeat of the Roosters since entering the competition in 1967. Anasta gets moved to fullback, Jordan Tansey moved to hooker and both wingers Perrett and Shaun Kenny-Dowall moved into the centres just to name a few of the many changes that were absolute terrible ideas from Fittler. I can't find any explanations of why you would have Anasta at fullback other than the possible fact Anasta wanted to push his claims as a 'utility' player for State of Origin. It was one of the worst decisions I have seen since Chris Anderson wanted to use the one marker play.
Anasta was terrible and uncomfortable. You could tell he wasn't coping but Fittler persisted with him at fullback for the entire game. These are signs of desperation from the coach and the efforts of the players are nothing but disgraceful. The way the Roosters have been playing they deserve the wooden spoon.
Players are now looking over their shoulders to see if they will get a tap on the back and be told to leave the club. The Roosters are looking for a clean out of players. O'Meley and Mason have been rumoured to be pushed out of the club less than two years the Roosters moved heaven and earth to snare them from the Bulldogs. A loyal servant in Fitzgibbon has been told he won't get a new contract next season and had to move on to England. Is this the answer? Sack the players and buy new ones? This has been the culture of the Roosters for many of years. This needs to change. They need to try and develop young rising stars of the game and blood their junior players. The Roosters have always struggled to develop a young player which is why they opt to buy the finished product instead.
The last Roosters junior they produced and became a star was Luke Ricketson. That's a long time between drinks. A young talent who the Roosters said would be the next big thing is Ben Jones. He hasn't kicked on and not living up to the hype. Is it his fault? He has been rushed in to first grade and has played in so many different positions and not one of them in his key position of five-eighth. Sitting on the bench and playing out of position is not a good way to develop a young player with such promise.
The culture of the club needs to change and signing players like Mason and Todd Carney isn't the answer. Arthur Beetson knew what had to be done, but the Roosters failed to listen to him which lead to Beetson walking out of the club.
The players just don't put in. They could have had players like Ben Hannant and Antonio Winterstein in their ranks but they choose to punt them to sign big name players. They have been a cheque book club since the 70's and got the tag of the Transit Lounge because of it.
Finally the Roosters are stuck in an uncomfortable position, but one they put them selves in. They put a club legend in as head coach who had very little experience when it came to coaching a team. He started off well but the honeymoon is truly over for Brad Fittler. His players aren't putting the same efforts they put in back when he started the job. There is no commitment from the players and they aren't having a dig. They aren't playing for the full 80 and when they look beaten they just give up and wait for the game to be over.
Fans are starting to turn on their favourite adopted son from Penrith. With how the team is going and the strange team selections you really can't blame them.
Usually at the Roosters if the team are performing even half as bad as this the coach would have got the sack a long-time ago. But this is something the Roosters can't do because it would cause a backlash from the fans if their hero is given the flick. Tough decisions need to be made and if that's Fittler getting the sack than the decision needs to be made.
Every loss is another nail in Fittler's coffin.
http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=33351
Let's go back to the start of the pre-season - experts predicting the Roosters will make the top 4 and Brad Fittler was to be the man to get them there.
Fans are confident and pumped for a big season. On paper the Roosters have a strong team full of representive players at their exposal. So why are the Roosters playing so poor this season? The warning signs were there for the Roosters and you can go back to the second half of the 2008 season. The Roosters were pretty successful in the first half of the season scoring majority of their tries from kicks. But that seemed to be all they had in their kit bag. Opposition teams worked out the Roosters game plan and shut them down. The Roosters started to lose games but still kept playing the same style of footy each game. This was a mistake and Fittler needed to step up and add some more variety to their game. This is something that never happened and the Roosters were out of the premiership race because of it.
Second mistake was to strip Craig Fitzgibbon of the captaincy. Fitzgibbon is the heart and soul of the Roosters and has been one of their best players year in and year out.
He's a true leader, but gets punted in favour of Braith Anasta, who isn't exactly a player or person you can look up too. Not something that needed to be done and more so when in Finals contention last year and the Roosters have lacked leadership ever since.
Third mistake the Roosters made was their recruitment and retention. They released players such as Amos Roberts, David Shillington and Anthony Tupou, who were key players for them and replaced them with a bunch of no bodies and previously did a big raid on the Bulldogs club at the expense of losing three good players. Did the Roosters believe they would still make the top 4 without these players? They must have and those players are playing great footy for the clubs they now play for.
Fittler finally caught on that he needed to do something about the Roosters attack. So during the pre-season he changes his halves combination. Ben Jones becomes the new five-eighth partnered with Mitchell Pearce with Anasta shifting to lock forward. Throughout the pre-season this is the combination they were playing with and went in to the trails with the same pair. But just before the season starts Fittler changes his halves back to Anasta and Pearce. This wasn't a great idea as the pre-season training and combinations became a huge waste of time.
The season starts and the Roosters are confident of beating their arch rivals South Sydney Rabbitohs. They get smashed 52-12 which was the biggest win the Rabbitohs have won against the Roosters in over 100 years of football and their season has been going down hill fast ever since.
They have won three games that weren't very convincing and only beating the lower placed teams Canberra, Cronulla and Parramatta.
The problems with the Roosters are a combination of both their players and head coach. The Roosters aren't playing like a team and are playing like individuals. They have nothing in attack and nothing in defence. They are currently the worst defensive team in the comp and by a long way. Their goal line defence doesn't exist. Newcastle punched holes through them each time they got down their end. It was embarrassing to watch. Each week the same result. No heart, no pride and no passion.
When the NSW State of Origin selectors named the 40-man preliminary squad there was a lot of out cry from Bondi way as only Pearce was named with Anasta, Fitzgibbon, Mark O'Meley and Willie Mason all notable omissions. Since the naming of the squad the Roosters have lost very convincingly against the Dragons, Storm, Knights and Panthers with only a token victory against the attack-less Sharks anything to show since the snubbed Roosters - notably Anasta and Mason vowed to fire up and prove the critics and selectors wrong.
The coach isn't getting the best out of his players and has been playing musical chairs with his team selections out of hope something may come off. For majority of the season the bench has had a winger or centre on it. Why? They come on for one half of footy and that's it. Wingers and centres don't need a rest on the field. The Roosters forwards have been getting beaten and that's because Fittler usually has two forward replacements on the bench.
One of their few bright spots has been youngster Sam Perrett and he was doing an outstanding job filling in for Anthony Minichiello at fullback only to be shafted out to the wing where his form continued to shine out. Last night Perrett was moved yet again into the centres where he was caught out of position when in reality he should have remained at fullback.
The fans are getting frustrated with their team and coach with out a doubt. The straw that broke the camels back would have to be the Penrith game. Penrith won the game 48-6, which was their biggest defeat of the Roosters since entering the competition in 1967. Anasta gets moved to fullback, Jordan Tansey moved to hooker and both wingers Perrett and Shaun Kenny-Dowall moved into the centres just to name a few of the many changes that were absolute terrible ideas from Fittler. I can't find any explanations of why you would have Anasta at fullback other than the possible fact Anasta wanted to push his claims as a 'utility' player for State of Origin. It was one of the worst decisions I have seen since Chris Anderson wanted to use the one marker play.
Anasta was terrible and uncomfortable. You could tell he wasn't coping but Fittler persisted with him at fullback for the entire game. These are signs of desperation from the coach and the efforts of the players are nothing but disgraceful. The way the Roosters have been playing they deserve the wooden spoon.
Players are now looking over their shoulders to see if they will get a tap on the back and be told to leave the club. The Roosters are looking for a clean out of players. O'Meley and Mason have been rumoured to be pushed out of the club less than two years the Roosters moved heaven and earth to snare them from the Bulldogs. A loyal servant in Fitzgibbon has been told he won't get a new contract next season and had to move on to England. Is this the answer? Sack the players and buy new ones? This has been the culture of the Roosters for many of years. This needs to change. They need to try and develop young rising stars of the game and blood their junior players. The Roosters have always struggled to develop a young player which is why they opt to buy the finished product instead.
The last Roosters junior they produced and became a star was Luke Ricketson. That's a long time between drinks. A young talent who the Roosters said would be the next big thing is Ben Jones. He hasn't kicked on and not living up to the hype. Is it his fault? He has been rushed in to first grade and has played in so many different positions and not one of them in his key position of five-eighth. Sitting on the bench and playing out of position is not a good way to develop a young player with such promise.
The culture of the club needs to change and signing players like Mason and Todd Carney isn't the answer. Arthur Beetson knew what had to be done, but the Roosters failed to listen to him which lead to Beetson walking out of the club.
The players just don't put in. They could have had players like Ben Hannant and Antonio Winterstein in their ranks but they choose to punt them to sign big name players. They have been a cheque book club since the 70's and got the tag of the Transit Lounge because of it.
Finally the Roosters are stuck in an uncomfortable position, but one they put them selves in. They put a club legend in as head coach who had very little experience when it came to coaching a team. He started off well but the honeymoon is truly over for Brad Fittler. His players aren't putting the same efforts they put in back when he started the job. There is no commitment from the players and they aren't having a dig. They aren't playing for the full 80 and when they look beaten they just give up and wait for the game to be over.
Fans are starting to turn on their favourite adopted son from Penrith. With how the team is going and the strange team selections you really can't blame them.
Usually at the Roosters if the team are performing even half as bad as this the coach would have got the sack a long-time ago. But this is something the Roosters can't do because it would cause a backlash from the fans if their hero is given the flick. Tough decisions need to be made and if that's Fittler getting the sack than the decision needs to be made.
Every loss is another nail in Fittler's coffin.
http://www.rleague.com/db/article.php?id=33351
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