Round 4: Cowboys v Roosters preview
Looking to arrest their slow start to the season, Sydney Roosters head to Townsville to take on a ebullient North Queensland Cowboys, fresh from a derby win.
Being one from three to start the season isn't what the Sydney Roosters envisioned especially a crushing loss to their fiercest rivals. Now they face the Cowboys with their tails up while the tri colours are having a crisis of confidence.
Trent Robinson will lean on the experience his side has to get themselves out of the slump because they have enough talented players to dig up, stupid. Between James Tedesco, Luke Keary and Jared Wearea Hargreaves can lift the rest of the side to get even on the season.
Roosters will also be a good test for the surprise packet Cowboys headed into the weekend. The tri-colours are one of the heavyweight sides of the NRL and can turn it on in an instant. If the Roosters can get the result in Townsville, it might kickstart their campaign.
For the Cowboys, they are walking on the sun currently. Beating your local rivals will do that for you but the Cowboys also have a huge win against the Raiders which has them surprisingly sat in second spot on the ladder.
North Queensland need to make use of this four-game stand in Queensland to open the season before they must start traveling down to the big smoke. The Townsville two that are Tom Dearden and Chad Townsend have been solid to start the season, but they need to step it against the Roosters duo.
Like always the spotlight will also fall on their star forward Jason Taumalolo. He has been criticized for his role in the Cowboys line-up and his pay packet. He will be primed for another big game against one of the heavyweight sides of the competition.
Last meeting: Round 18 2021 - Cowboys 18 Roosters 34
Who to watch: Coming off his hat-trick last week, young forward Jeremiah Nanai has taken the headlines and will have the spotlight on him against this big Roosters pack. If he can match it with the likes of Jared Wearea-Hargreaves and Sitili Tupouniua it will be a big tick.
No surprise that Jason Taumalolo is probably the other Cowboy to watch. The star forward has been the subject of much speculation and criticism for his role in the line-up. He ran for over 100 metres in their Broncos win and should be primed for a big game.
It has been a rough start for the Roosters. They will look towards their big names to get them back on track this weekend. One of those is Victor Radley after his poor performance against the Rabbitohs, plus he is the barometer for their pack and gets them moving forward.
Also they need their attack to click. So both Sam Walker and Luke Keary have to take the side by the scruff of the neck and get them piling on some points. If they can perform more like the Sea Eagles game than the Knights game, they should take the two points.
The favourite: Despite their poor form to start the season, the Roosters will always be favoured until they aren't really. If that makes any sense
