From the Couch: Sydney Roosters Season Review

Win-Loss: 16-8
Ladder Position: 3rd
Finals: Preliminary Final
Attack: 30.75 (1st)
Defence: 19.29 (5th)
Longest Win Streak: 4 (R15-18 and R21-25)
Longest Loss Streak: 2 (R4-5)
Best Win: Semi Final: 40-16 v Manly
Worst Loss: Round 13: 18-16 v North Queensland

Season Review

Highlights: The Roosters spent most of the year as the third best team and improved significantly on recent seasons.

Despite Trent Robinson receiving plenty of unwarranted criticism, the Roosters lost consecutive games just once.

James Tedesco was arguably the best and most consistent player in the competition across the course of the season enjoying a stunning year that netted 21 try assists and 17 tries – and all while he was dumped from both his NSW and Australian jerseys.

The Roosters attack fired for much of the year and was outstanding when Sam Walker was at full health.

The return to form of Angus Crichton was loved by the Chooks faithful.

Lowlights: Another year of so-close yet so-far for the Tricolours and the preliminary final loss was a huge sting for such a proud club.

Sam Walker’s long-term injury really spoiled any hopes the Roosters had of stunning either the Panthers or Storm in the finals.

Jared Waerea-Hargreaves received a memorable record-breaking milestone and farewell but his lack of discipline hurt the Roosters down the stretch.

What Worked: The Roosters set the attacking standard in 2024, the only team to average over 30 points per game, topping 38 points a remarkable 11 times as the back three combined for 58 tries.

The Chooks were one of just six teams to complete at over 80% in 2024.

They led the NRL by miles in try assists and ranked behind only Penrith in supports.

Their attack succeeded in part because they were an incredibly hard team to tackle ranking highly in line breaks and tackle breaks.
What Didn’t: The Roosters’ longstanding woes against the Panthers and the Storm continued, going winless in five meetings with their two rivals with the last three losses by 16-plus.

No team gave away more penalties than the Roosters, averaging seven penalties conceded per game.

The Roosters dropped a lot of ball, ranking very high in handling errors.

Betting Stats

ATS: 14-13
Over/Under: 16-11
Head-to-Head Return: -0.61 units

Three Betting Notes:

• The Roosters were overrated after a strong attacking showing, going 3-8 against the spread off scoring 30-plus points.
• The over went 9-5 when the Roosters were favoured by more than a converted try.
• The Roosters thrived in afternoon football, covering six of nine.

Personnel

Best Player: James Tedesco
Next Best: Angus Crichton, Sam Walker
Most Disappointing Player: Joey Manu
Next Most Disappointing: Brandon Smith, Luke Keary
Top Tryscorer: Daniel Tupou (21)
Top Assist Merchant: Sam Walker and James Tedesco (21)
Top Tackle Breaker: James Tedesco (6.95 per game)
Top Metre Eater: James Tedesco (201.14m per game)
Top Tackler: Nat Butcher (37.40 per game)
Best Buy: Dominic Young
Worst Buy: Michael Jennings
Best Rookie: Blake Steep

Player Ratings