3 minute read
Brad Fittler and Cooper Cronk insist no line can be put through the Sydney Roosters, with five of the past 10 NRL teams to concede 60 winning the next week.
The Sydney Roosters need look no further than the last time they conceded 60 to know Friday night's trip to Penrith is far from Mission Impossible.
With a young Mitchell Aubusson in the back row and Jake Friend on the sideline, they were pummelled 60-14 by Canterbury in round three of 2010.
The very next week they came out and did a job on Brisbane, beating them 25-6.
An analysis of results over the past 13 NRL seasons shows that conceding 60 historically has very little impact on a team the following week.
In the 10 times a team has conceded 60 since the start of 2008, five have won their next game.
The figures come as two Roosters life members warned fans to write them off at their peril over the next month.
"Collectively we all sit here and think the Roosters are a chance of knocking off Penrith," Cooper Cronk said.
"Never knock off a champion until they prove you wrong."
Cronk knows the inner workings of the Roosters better than most others.
One of the deepest thinkers in the game, last year he helped lift the club from a final-round loss to South Sydney to a history-making second straight premiership four weeks later.
"Having experienced what that club goes through in preparation for the finals, it was a bit of a scar to get over," Cronk said.
"But they'll be there or there abouts on Friday night.
"There is no doubt they will work through some footage. They will have some mental demons to get through.
"But I still sit here think they can win on Friday night."
Brad Fittler was also defiant, pointing out the Roosters need look no further than the Rabbitohs' capitulation against a struggling Canterbury side a week earlier for how quickly things can turn.
"The one thing in rugby league that is still prevalent is a rebound," Fittler said.
"Pride still is a strong thing in our game. The Roosters I know all went back and wanted to watch the game. They wanted to face it.
"Like everyone else, they couldn't believe what the score got to.
"I think they have dealt with it and put it behind them."
Captains and ex-players all struggled to split the Panthers, Roosters and Melbourne for favouritism at Monday's finals launch.
Meanwhile Parramatta remain under the radar ahead of Saturday's qualifying final against the Storm, with a spot in the preliminary final beckoning.
Canberra remain the form team from outside the top four, but must defy history and become the first team in the NRL era to come from fifth or lower and win the title.
