The Roosters were fielding a near full-strength side while the Eels had a host of stars missing. While Timana Tahu was back in the Blue and Gold, Justin Poore, Shane Shackleton and Eric Grothe joined Jarryd Hayne, Ben Smith and Daniel Mortimer on the sidelines.
The Roosters started the better and scored on the 11th minute mark via a Todd Carney kick for Anthony Minichiello. Mitchell Pearce then scored under the posts to extend the lead to 12 to nil.
However, the Eels worked back into the match and dominated the second quarter. A Kris Keating bomb bounced between defenders and was picked up by Joel Reddy and then Brendan Oake buried over from a Keating short pass.
The second half saw the Roosters score first and then gift a try straight back to the Eels when they dropped the kick-off. Mateo picked up a loose ball and scored the easiest of four pointers.
From then on though it was all Roosters running, however, it should be pointed out that Daniel Anderson experimented with a lot of combinations in the second half including Humble at half.
Importantly, Nathan Hindmarsh got through the match and will be fine for Round One.
While, the three straight losses don't look great on paper, it's worth noting we have never fielded a team that looks anything like our top 17. Daniel Anderson has some work to do but it will be a very different team that runs out for the Eels in Round one.
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Mateo looked threatening most of the time he played (though there were some passes he should have held). There seems to be a nice little combination forming with him and Kris Keating (who also did well). Out right side defence leaked all night which is a worry.
But in the end it was just a trial. Roosters obviously were happy but I wonder how it feels to have your team peak in February?
Other than that his game was pretty ordinary.
He went for a lazy intercept, which led to their second try. He didn't bother chasing once their second rower broke through. But, in a trial game why would you bother?
He was also responsible for another one of their tries. He was in the right position to catch a bomb and from the way Humble left it alone it seemed as if Tahu had actually called for it. Neither of them ended up contesting it and it was the easiest of tries for the Roosters.
It's TT's first game back and his first chance to work on any kind of match fitness. He certainly has a lot of work to do over the next fortnight, and after seeing him tonight I'm not expecting him to start playing well until maybe round 5.
After watching first grade league since about 1967 I can't ever say that winning trials has ever been a reliable yardstick for anything. All I ever care about is that no one is injured.
Providing your second round is good like ours was last year, even the first round doesn't account for much. But having said that I'd rather the team be winning regularly from the start.
I'm very keen to learn about how Tom Humble went. Can Phil or Daneel shed any light there?
Thanks fellas, for keeping us informed.
Regards,
In the hagan years we were frustratingly patchy. Good one week average the next.
I expect we will be off the pace for the first 5 rounds then start to dominate as our match fitness improves and catches the rest of the field.
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