It's player development, not cash, that keeps Roosters on top
By Phil Gould
April 20, 2019 — 4.22pm
The Good Friday clash between heavyweights the Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm was an outstanding game of rugby league.
The match was highlighted by so many great moments. There were 40 points scored in the first 52 minutes. There were no points scored in the final 28 minutes as these two masterfully coached teams schemed their way to try and break the 20-20 deadlock
.
In the end, it took a towering golden point field goal from the Roosters' Latrell Mitchell to decide it.
The power of one: Latrell Mitchell (centre) is mobbed by teammates after the final play.CREDIT:AAP
A draw would’ve been a more fitting result. However, if no extra time period was played, we would’ve been denied that magical moment from Mitchell, a drop goal that will live long in our memories.
I suppose if any team can afford the loss it’s Melbourne. It’s also fair to say our game can always benefit from the wonderful theatre created by magical moments like these.
As I left the ground I listened to the friendly banter between rival fans. Nothing sinister; just friendly ribbing with plenty of mutual respect for each other’s team. They know they will meet again come September.
Among the exchanges, though, were the age-old accusations that the Roosters buy their premierships by poaching representative-class players from rival clubs. This is one of the great myths of our game and these comments always grate on the Roosters faithful.
Another one off the production line: Nat Butcher takes on the Storm on Friday.CREDIT:AAP
What is rarely highlighted is that in the past 20 seasons the Roosters have become one the leading developers of young talent in the game.
Friday night's win, in particular, emphasised this. Before I explain, let’s have a history lesson.
Roosters' 2002 premiership
Of the 17 players in that premiership-winning team, nine (Shannon Hegarty, Anthony Minichiello, Simon Bonetti, Peter Cusack, Luke Ricketson, Bryan Fletcher, Andrew Lomu, Chris Flannery and Michael Crocker) made their NRL debuts with the Roosters.
Roosters' 2013 premiership
Of the 17 players in that premiership team, 10 (Anthony Minichiello, Daniel Tupou, Shaun Kenny-Dowall,
Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Mitchell Pearce, Aidan Guerra, Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend, Frank-Paul Nuuausala and Mitchell Aubusson) made their NRL debuts with the Roosters, while Jared Waerea-Hargreaves played just 6 matches for Manly in 2009 before joining the Club.
Glory days: The Roosters, boasting a host of locally developed talent, take out last year's title.CREDIT:AAP
Roosters' 2018 premiership
Of the 17 players in that premiership team, 10 (Tupou, Mitchell, Joseph Manu, Friend, Cordner, Aubusson, Victor Radley, Isaac Liu, Dylan Napa and Ryan Matterson) made their NRL debuts with the Roosters, while two others (Sio Siua Taukeiaho and Waerea-Hargreaves) played just seven NRL matches prior to joining.
The Roosters went into Friday night's clash with the Storm missing six internationals (Taukeiaho, Liu, Manu, Friend, Brett Morris and Ryan Hall) and then lost a seventh (Luke Keary) during the match. The premiers had just nine of their grand final team in action, while the Storm had 14. The Roosters bench contained four players aged 21 or younger, with a total of just 19 matches between them. Three players (Sitili Tupouniua, Sam Verrills and
Josh Curran) had played a total of 14 minutes in the NRL prior to Friday night.
The Roosters have now used 24 players in the first six rounds and are yet to give a debut their big off-season signing, Hall, the 38-cap England winger.
Eleven of the Roosters team on Friday night made their NRL debuts with the tricolours.
Radley, Tupouniua, Nat Butcher,
Poasa Faamausili (who has played four matches for the Roosters this season after making his debut last season) and the suspended Manu were all members of the Roosters' 2016 NYC premiership team. Two others (Paul Momirovski and Grant Garvey) made their NRL debuts at the Roosters from that premiership side.
Tupouniua, a junior Kiwi representative, who joined the Roosters for that 2016 NYC season, is destined to be a long-term NRL player and his superb tackle-busting run in golden point was crucial in giving the Roosters the required field position for Mitchell to kick that winning field goal.
Butcher joined the Roosters when he was 17. The former Australian Schoolboy broke a myriad of records during the 2016 NYC season and played a key role in James Tedesco's try on Friday night. He made his NRL debut for the Roosters in the final match of 2016 when just 19. A player with an ability to play long minutes, he's been a star in the lower grades at the Roosters for a number of years.
Verrills, last season's Arthur Beetson medallist at the Roosters for under-20s player of the year, is in his second season at the Roosters and is still eligible to play at that level. The wily young hooker put the pressure on Brodie Croft late in normal time on Friday that prevented Croft from getting the space he needed to kick the winning field goal in regulation time.
Curran was a schoolboys star at Patrician Brothers Blacktown. He played under-16s for NSW in 2015, under-18s in 2017, under-20s in 2018 and Australian Schoolboys in 2016. He is another that the Roosters identified at a very young age, joining the club at 17 and graduating to the senior squad this season, along with Verrills.
What sets apart players such as Tupouniua, Butcher, Verrills,
Curran, Faaumasili and another Roosters 2019 debutant Lachlan Lam from so many other NRL youngsters is the football education they receive at the Roosters. Despite their young age, when they make their debut at the Roosters they are ready. They have been at the club since a young age and the development programs that they go through have them as prepared for the NRL as a youngster can possibly be.
Look through the team lists and you will find a myriad of players who were at the Roosters prior to making their NRL debut, but are now playing elsewhere. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the Roosters have had to let many of these players go, but the players will still speak highly of their early years with the Roosters. They are all in the senior squads at their current clubs: Kenny-Dowall, Guerra, Tautau Moga, Connor Watson, Pearce (Knights); Joseph Leilua,
Jack Murchie, Iosia Soliola (Raiders); Ryley Jacks, Treymain Spry (Titans); Jahrome Hughes, Sandor Earl (Storm); Brad Takairangi,
Kane Evans (Parramatta);
Tuivasa-Sheck,
Jackson Frei, Leivaha
Pulu, Taane
Milne, Blake Ayshford (Warriors); John Asiata, Javid Bowen, Nene Macdonald (Cowboys); Momirovski, Matterson, Esan Marsters, Luke Garner (Tigers); Rhyse Martin, Napa (Bulldogs); Sean O'Sullivan, Joe Ofahengaue (Broncos); James Tamou, Frank Winterstein (Panthers); Ethan Lowe (Souths); Brendan Elliot, Lloyd Perrett (Manly); Kurt Capewell, Braden Hamlin-Uele (Sharks).
That's 37 players, plus 19 of the 29-man Roosters squad, and it's possible I have missed a few. It's impressive, to say the least.
The Roosters have played in 11 preliminary finals in the past 21 seasons, in seven of the last 19 grand finals, won four of the past six minor premierships and won three of the past 17 titles. They do so, not by buying premierships, but by identifying and developing talent at a rate better than the rest.
They are able to buy players such as Tedesco, Cooper Cronk, Keary, Hall and Angus Crichton because so many of their other squad members have been developed in-house. They are worthy premiership favourites again in 2019 on the back of another squad dominated by products they have developed.
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