The Roosters late season charge has continued with a 30-14 win over the Dolphins, though they were made to work for their win by another committed performance from the new boys.
The victory keeps the Roosters’ faint finals hopes alive, and they must now defeat Parramatta and the Rabbitohs in successive weeks, while hoping that Newcastle or the Cowboys slip up.
It’s far from impossible and if they make it, they’ll have earned it. They certainly had to fight for the two points this evening, overcoming a typically gritty opponent before turning on the style in the second half.
“We’re still in the fight,” said Trent Robinson.
“There are a couple of things that need to happen for us but it’s also probable that they will happen.”
Redcliffe were 8-6 ahead at the break as the Chooks’ attack again took a while to get going, but once it did, it came in a huge wave.
Instead of the usual suspects, it was Billy Smith and Drew Hutchison who were the best, with the centre dominating his edge and the makeshift halfback picking up two tries with clever darts at the line.
Luke Keary, too, impressed with four line break assists and a superb kick that gave Joseph Suaalii chance to show off all his aerial skills on the wing.
The Roosters were assisted by some poor tackling from Ray Stone, who misjudged one of his bone rattlers and ended up in the bin. In that ten minute stint, a 12-8 lead became 24-8.
Wayne Bennett had challenged his side to show some fight, but not like that. They did cross late thanks to an exceptional Jarrod Wallace offload, but it was a mere consolation.
The coach himself was concerned by the binning, and blamed it for the result.
“The decision we got on the sin bin, it was as much to do with the result as anything else,” he said.
“There’s no doubt he got hit in the head, not denying that for a moment. He got put on report and that was fair enough.
“But we had Kodi Nikorima who got hit in the head with an elbow and that was just put on report and a penalty. The tackle Ray was in he got hit below, he was coming in to tackle and he just dropped his height.
“That’s one of those things that happens in the game and you put it on report and go from there… but I think it was way over the top.”
Is Billy Smith good or just playing against Valynce Te Whare?
Even before the Roosters got it together, there was a pretty clear plan in place. It wasn’t the greatest attacking display, but it doesn’t always have to be when Val Meninga is about.
As fun as the burly centre is with the ball, he’s currently a defensive liability, and Bennett has said as much himself in the press.
It poses an interesting question: is Billy Smith really good or was he made to look very good by a defender who consistently flew up to his outside and let him through?
Surprisingly, it might be the former. Much as Te Whare had clearly been told to jam, he was taking still unable to get close to the Roosters man who, in his time back in the team, has generally looked excellent.
Robinson has struggled with finding the right backline, but hasn’t often had the best options to choose from. Smith isn’t so much maligned as totally ignored, but that might be due to a lack of football, a result of frequent injuries in first grade.
Tonight was just his 24th NRL appearance, spread over four seasons. In the same time period, Smith has just 13 NSW Cup games too. What that tells us is that he’s been injured a lot, but also that he’s almost always been picked when fit.
Robbo rates him, and on nights like this, it’s easy to see why. He’s big, fast, has a pass and doesn’t give much away in defence. Along with Daniel Tupou, he’s another tall target for crossfield kicks.
There’s a lot of big names in that 1-6 for the Chooks, and Smith might be the least illustrious. But there’s no doubting the talent, and he was close to their best tonight, along with the similarly unheralded Hutchison.
The Dolphins don’t beat themselves – until they do
It’s been something of a truism about the Dolphins this year that they don’t beat themselves. On plenty of occasions, that has certainly been true, and they have picked up more than a couple of results by playing the conservative, hard-nosed footy that has already become their trademark.
But it’s not always been true. They’ve also thrown away a few by failing to offer enough, or by letting their defensive commitment slide over into outright foul play. Tonight we got both in the same night.
For 40 minutes, it was classic Dolphins. They got their try, kept the Roosters at bay, kicked a long distance penalty goal and generally spoiled the party.
Then, for 40 more, it all fell apart. Their plan to frustrate the Chooks nearly worked, but on the brink of the break, the pressure told.
When all you do is truck the ball in and kick it away, you’re going to do a lot of defending, and even against a side that have struggled in attack, it’s also asking for trouble. Even when the attack wasn’t looking great, the kick to Suaalii is always one and will eventually come off.
That was compounded by the Stone sin binning, which begat some very soft tries to Hutchison, and you know the rest.
As is mentioned every week, they’re playing with house money at the moment and, really, the attack can come next year. It should be top of the list if they want to advance.
