Back to Back

[Johnny Brass]

It's so hard to go back to back and we had a pretty blessed run with injuries this year, even a minor drop off in intensity from the players and you fall short. Losing Fergo will hurt us as I thought he was our best player on a consistent basis this year .
However I think we have a fantastic opportunity to do it . We have an outstanding footy team, great coach and plenty of belief and confidence.
Teddy has become an amazing fullback with all the skills. His quick hands passing is as good as Darius Boyd's now and we have learned to use him properly around the middle of the ruck. Him and Jake have developed a good relationship with each other when there's only one marker. Toops was brilliant after that broncos debacle even though every team peppered him with bombs. Some of those catches he took off Reynolds were unbelievable.
We have the two best centres in the game so we can attack either side of the field. Mitchell is a freak with his power and agility, he has completely owned chambers who was the best defensive centre in the game.
Manu is brilliant and has so many ways to hurt the defence . He can skip on the outside, has a great fend and his hands are so good, if the opposition winger bites and comes in he has the flick pass or he can roll it back on the inside. His once maligned defence has become a strong point and the way he covered for Cooper and manhandled inglis and Scott in the last two games showed how much confidence he now has.
Keary is in his prime and makes our attack so dangerous, it all starts with him.
Cooper has already proven his worth to us and let's squeeze one more out of this great of the game.
Radley has found his niche at lock and is the perfect link man for us .He is ready for Rep football and we look so good when he is on the field.
Cords on the edge is a beast and has done it all in the game and I think should be the test skipper after inglis going dui.
Jwh has taken back his mantle as best prop in the game and sst with his footwork is one of the best as well.
Jake has had a fantastic back end of the year, I really think Cooper's influence has improved his game and has stopped him making those panicky decisions under pressure. As I mentioned above he has a great combo with Teddy now and when he runs he is just running hard and not trying to become a ball player.
Our bench was the best in the game at the back end of the year.
Liu with his late footwork is a handful
Napa is a Rep player
Collins has improved immensely and is going to get better as is butcher and farmer silly.
Aubo is the best insurance policy in the league , he can play anywhere and never ever let us down.
Storm and sharks have had their time and I don't know if cowboys will come back.
There are plenty of other good young teams on the rise but we are the champs and they are going to have to knock us over to take the title.
Massive chance of back to back

[Arties Pie]

Desire and injuries of course... I hope they play Crighton on Latrells side man oh man imagine that combination would be spectacular, Cords is good but Crighton has a great pass and draws plenty of defenders.

[eddie]

I was confident of going back to back in 2013, but the nrl wanted crowes fairytale.
We're going to be up against it big time next season as the nrl pushes its trophy sharing agenda. But on a positive note, it has to happen eventually.

[Johnny Brass]

I forgot to mention tets, how good has he been for us all year off the bench and in particular the last 6 weeks. His is a great redemption story and we have become a club that has become so good at picking up players who have made mistakes in life but have turned not only their playing careers around but made them better human beings. A lot of that has to go to Robbo and Uncle Nick

[dice]

Desire and injuries of course... I hope they play Crighton on Latrells side man oh man imagine that combination would be spectacular, Cords is good but Crighton has a great pass and draws plenty of defenders.

Chrichton will be on Latrell's side. SBW on the other side.

[Thirteen]

1.Teddy

2.Toops

3.Latrell
4.Manu

5.Hall/Morris/?

6.Keary
7.Cronk

8.JWH
9.Friend
10.Taukeiaho

11.Cordner
12.Crighton
13.Radley

14.Maubs
15. Liu
16.Napa
17. Tetavano

Plus Collins and co.

Haha where does this mad signing fit?!! Look at that team!!!

Screw Angus walking straight into our side. Aubo is a club legend and deserves his starting spot.

[Maxy Walker]

Chrichton will be on Latrell's side. SBW on the other side.

There's s rugby world cup on next year I doubt SBW would want to miss it to get smashed in NRL again

[Thirteen]

Desire and injuries of course... I hope they play Crighton on Latrells side man oh man imagine that combination would be spectacular, Cords is good but Crighton has a great pass and draws plenty of defenders.

Crighton plays right and Cords isn't going to be moved from the left. I'm pretty comfortable with Joey running off an off-loading Crighton.

[Rooster59]

Our teams was awesome all over the paddock and yes we had some perceived setbacks which turned out not to be an issue. Our forwards in the main owned others. I’m amazed that Tets isn’t getting the recognition he deserves. Hope is offered an extension. Don’t think another Prop is required as our boys (Liu, Tetevano, Napa, Collins and co) are good enough

[Waylander]

I think we have a wonderful opportunity to go B2B. As long as the NRL keeps it's grimy Cameron Smith loving fingers out of the comp and lets the best footy team win.

[eddie]

The nrl will do everything in their power to prevent us going back to back. Their boast about having having different premiers every season shows whats wrong with their thinking.
I'm expecting more lop sided penalty counts against us, and more suspensions.
At least the shoulder charge is legal again.

[kakaruk]

We could do it with this team

[HEGtheROOSTER]

Desire and injuries of course

I reckon that’s spot on.

Just being good enough to do it and having the talent won’t get us there....

The difficult job for Robbo and the coaching staff is keeping the hunger there to want it enough to do all the little one percenters in the pre-season, all throughout the long season, on and off the field.
I believe this is where clubs struggle to hit the mark in the follow-up season. It’s a lot harder to be diligent about the little things when you’re all wearing premiership rings....

Particularly when you’re playing other teams that are hungry for success and prepared to make any sacrifices to win a premiership....

Again that’s where having the influence of Cooper Cronk around the place will help us.

Injuries we coped with pretty well this year, and despite looking a bit skinny in a couple of areas early in the season, the coaching team did a great job bringing younger players on and equipping them with the skills to get a job done (Ikuvalu, Momirovski, Collins, Faamausili, O’Sullivan).
The same will have to happen in 2019.
We’ll miss the versatility of Matterson; can’t see Crichton slotting into five-eighth!

I don’t see a harder draw as being a massive problem; we seem to mostly lose games against teams we’re expected to beat. We seem to usually be able to lift for big games....

[Tommy Smith]

Yes on paper we're the best team heading into 2019 by a country mile.

So desire & injuries will absolutely be the key factors.

I'm sure our leaders and coach have learned a lot from 2014. Also Cronk will be in his final year and certainly won't be resting on his laurels.

[Louis N]

Desire is the key. When you look at how we finished this season. Putting 44 points on the Eels to sneak homne with the minor premiership against the odds. Beating our nemesis a full strength Sharks in a Cronk masterclass by nine, Keeping South tryless, while posting three of our own, blasting the Storm out of the park to lead 18 nil at the break and wrapping up the grand final with a powerhouse defensive display. All that while supplying Cords, Mitchell, Teddy and Dylan to the SOO, having Latrell suspended for the Souths final and Cooper playing a grand final with a busted shoulder plus Fergo hanging in with a broken fibula.

Now that finish is like Kiwi coming down the outside to win the 1983 Melbourne Cup. We came home with a wet sail, brilliantly timed by Robbo and full of desire on the back of those circumstances. I was supremely confident we could take the Shield but the minor premiership was one I didn't expect. I think even the most ardent Roosters supporter would have been surprised as how strongly we came home in the finals series on top. Great performance and keeping that desire is the key. The talent is there.

Teddy and Cooper would have been really out to prove themselves after early season criticisms and a slow start by the team, plus all the Pearce talk. The front row of JWH and Napa would be looking to atone for the Cowboys game. Fergo too and in his final year. Joey Manu to prove he was NRL standard. Same for Matto once Crichton was signed and that kind of desire all played its part. Now Coops is a legend yet again and Teddy is talked of in Mini terms, Radley is a future rep player in the making.

What we'll miss is Fergo's skill, strength and yardage to run us out of our own end, his finsihing and leaping ability, Matto's versatility (and size) is gone. So it's up to the guys coming through, Butcher, Collins, Crichton, Smith and whoever else we recruit.

Plus we need the older guys like JWH, Friendy, Aubs and Cronk, who'll be in his mid-thirties to keep up that standard. I think it's a hard ask, but we have the team to do it. The Sharks showed this year how the old guys can keep you in the contest and but for injuries, we might have been playing them again in the grand final. The other side of this coin is that we may get even better. Now wouldn't that be grand. Robbo knows the disappointment of 2014 and will be working to ensure it doesn't happen again. Let's do a 74-75 number on the rest!