The Sydney Roosters hosted the Melbourne Storm on a perfect winter's night at Allianz Stadium, with their season precariously balanced on the edge of an abyss. With seven rounds remaining, the Top 8 had finally started to move away from the also-rans, after early competitiveness saw the bottom-dwellers all within reach. Now the wooden spoon favourite Gold Coast Titans sit a full five wins away from the eighth-placed Sharks and beyond even the most imaginative of mathematical formulations.
Heading into Round 21 the Dolphins and Roosters sat two points out of the Top 8 on 22, behind the Sharks on 24, with the chasm starting to open below them with the Dragons and Tigers a further four points away on 18 points. Then followed the Cowboys on 17 points, the Knights, Rabbitohs and Eels all on 16 and the Titans on 14.
With Melbourne missing half of its fabled spine, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Cameron Munster, as well as forward leader Nelson Asofa-Solomona and exciting young outside back, Sualauvi Fa'alogo, the Roosters had a perfect opportunity to ambush the Storm.
The Roosters were missing Victor Radley and Billy Smith, but started the game well scoring the first try through a slick passing play out to Daniel Tupou on the wing. Some sloppy defence in front of their own posts saw Melbourne's Josh King pounce on a Jahrome Hughes grubber kick to level the scores. On a night when plenty of tries were going to be scored, Tupou was in again not long after, out-leaping his opponent to grab a second.
The Storm then took their turn with a Tyran Wishart grubber bouncing into the arms of Xavier Coates who passed it inside to Jack Howarth for the fourth try of the night. The Roosters were matching the visitors, but it didn't seem likely that they would stop a determined Storm attack from scoring almost at will and a Harry Grant dummy-half run soon saw him cut through for Melbourne's third try. The Storm's defence wasn't much better and the Roosters found themselves back in front after a sloppy try to Siua Wong off a spilt kick.
A pair of key injuries, firstly a heavy concussion to Roosters' five-eighth Sandon Smith in the first half and then the dislocation of Storm half Jahrome Hughes' shoulder early in the second half, left the result even further up in the air.
In a key second-half moment, Tupou sprinted towards the corner for his third try, only to inexplicably drop the ball over the line. The Roosters were leading 30-28 with 12 minutes remaining and the try may have been enough to send them onto victory. Instead Harry Grant continued his dominance, setting up a third try in the absence of Hughes, to take back the lead 34-30 with just just six minutes remaining.
The Roosters were unable to bridge that gap and despite an exciting performance with the ball, were let down by their defence against the depleted Storm.
They must now battle through a serious run home, facing three genuine finals hopes before the Storm again, this time in Melbourne. They also have a game against the Eels, who might not be in contention, but will still be fired up to spoil the progress of others. They then finish off the season proper against their most bitter rivals, South Sydney. If they need to beat the Rabbitohs to make the finals, they are likely to be in for a rough night, as stopping them will become the whole season for the Bunnies.
Sydney Roosters
Played: 18 Won: 8 Lost: 10 Byes: 3
Points: 22 Differential: +4
Currently: 10th
Final six rounds: Sea Eagles (A), Dolphins (A), Bulldogs (H), Eels (A), Storm (A), Rabbitohs (H)
The Roosters are going through a transitional period. They look to have stocked their roster well, but they have lost some major talent in recent years. Players of the ilk of Joseph Manu, Luke Keary, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Joseph Suaalii, Terrell May, and Sitili Tupouniua all departed at the end of the 2024 season alone. Coach Trent Robinson has battled with injuries and uncertainty around which two players form his best halves combination. He has experimented with Mark Nawaqanitawase, trying to work out his best position. Through it all the Roosters have struggled for that holy grail of any rugby league season, consistency.
The proud Bondi Junction club has only missed the finals once in the past 13 years, and that was in 2016. Unless they can turn things around from this point onwards, they look like missing the 2025 finals. Rest assured it won't be long before they are back to being a Top 8 fixture.