“Justo[Holbrook] has been really good,we’ve spent a lot of time working on it one-on-one,talking through certain situations and also going out onto the field and practicing it,visualising the different game scenarios and nailing it.

“It feels like for a long time we’ve hurt ourselves with errors and field position too. Attack gets pretty hard when you’re defending your line or coming off it all the time.

“So having guys like Spencer coming back in with quick play-the-balls,Gus[Crichton] is in amazing form,Terrell May’s been unbelievable all year,that’s probably a point of difference to last year.

“I’ve learnt about that balance of pulling the boys back a bit,and then when to let them go and we’ve all got a bit more freedom and confidence with it.”

In the days after that Magic Round mess last year,when only a Crichton try in the last minute saved the Roosters from being held scoreless,skipper James Tedesco was equal parts bewildered by,and scathing of,his team’s support play and effort areas around the ball.

“As low as I’ve seen,” he fumed.

A year later,the Roosters’ 53.91 support plays each game,according to NRL.com,rank second only to Canterbury (58 per game).

Champion Data also pegs the Roosters’ 215.3 passes per game as the second least in the NRL,though their 12.4 offloads per game are the second most.

So less ball movement before the line - perhaps easier said than done when there’s so much talent out wide to get the ball to. More contact and a bid to shift the ball afterwards - a scary prospect considering all that talent waiting to get their hands on it.

Having shifted from bench utility to the starting side,Connor Watson had played his way into a NSW Origin debut before an untimely throat injury.

He and Brandon Smith have both thrived in their switched up roles that can be tweaked accordingly based on opposition and conditions.

Tedesco,meanwhile,might have lost his NSW jumper,but his strong 2024 form has only picked up throughout the Roosters’ winning run of the past five weeks.

“And we get him back now,usually he’s away for six weeks this time of year,” Joey Manu grins,well aware of the regular chin scratching outside the club abouthow he and Tedesco best fit into a backline given only one can wear the No.1.

“He’s been playing well all season,there’s no point for him to prove. Teddy’s already the man. He’s done everything in this game and he’s been really strong this year too.”

A year after questions around all that talent,for so little attacking pay-off,were at their loudest,the Roosters are strong again too.

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