In a result that has sent ripples through the NRL premiership race, one of the competition’s form teams, the Sydney Roosters, has suffered a stunning defeat at the hands of the struggling Wests Tigers, ending their eight-match consecutive winning run. Veteran Roosters playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans has opened up about the team’s post-loss review, saying he believes the upset could prove to be the exactly reality check the side needs to sharpen up ahead of the approaching finals series.
Heading into Sunday’s clash, the ladder did not lie: the Roosters entered the game riding a hot eight-game winning streak, sitting comfortably atop the premiership table and heavily favored to hand the Tigers another loss. For the Wests Tigers, meanwhile, the game came on the back of their own eight straight defeats, leaving most analysts and fans predicting a one-sided blowout win for the Roosters. But what unfolded on match day defied all pre-game expectations. A late match-winning field goal from Tigers playmaker Jock Madden secured the underdogs a historic victory, widely labeled the upset of the NRL season. For the Roosters, the defeat dropped them from first place to third on the ladder, with just a fortnight remaining before the finals kick off.
Unlike many heavy losses that are marked by unforced errors and repeated penalty concessions, Sunday’s result was not a case of a side imploding. Still, the end result left the Roosters underperforming by their own high standards. Speaking after the team’s video review of the match on Tuesday, Cherry-Evans admitted the footage made for uncomfortable viewing.
“It’s not ideal (and it was) hard to watch,” Cherry-Evans told reporters. “But part of being in this industry is owning when you haven’t played a good game. There are a fair few of us in that room that found it hard to watch, but we owned it. We gave credit to the Tigers, and it’s as simple as that. You take your lessons and you move on. It’s too late in the season to be worrying too much.”
The Roosters have long held themselves to some of the highest standards in the NRL, and Cherry-Evans said the playing group was quick to acknowledge their underperformance without making excuses. “We are high standards of each other and of ourselves, so we’re our own harshest critics. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. We weren’t searching for anything in the video today; it was really clear we weren’t good enough. The Tigers played really well, and you’ve got to own that. It’s certainly refocused us, that’s for sure.”
Now, the Roosters face a challenging final two games of the regular season that will serve as their final tune-up for the finals. They host the Dolphins at their home ground this Saturday, before wrapping up the regular season against the Rabbitohs in the final round. Earlier this 2024 season, the Dolphins handed the Roosters a heavy loss in a match that was impacted by State of Origin representative commitments, leading many to frame Saturday’s rematch as a key test of how quickly the Roosters can bounce back from the Tigers upset. But Cherry-Evans said the side is not focused on framing the game as a litmus test, instead prioritizing fixing their own flaws ahead of the finals.
“I haven’t looked at it that way. I haven’t looked at who we need to play to feel like we’re ready for finals,” Cherry-Evans said. “We are continually on a path of improvement, and on the weekend we didn’t get the result we wanted. I can assure you that our focus has gone back on what needs to be fixed, what areas needed to be rectified, and then we move on from there. But I wouldn’t say I’ve looked at the opposition and thought I’ve had to play a certain opposition leading in.”
He added that accountability to internal standards is the most important priority for the side at this late stage of the season, saying the club’s leadership group and coaching staff have not shied away from addressing the issues laid bare by the upset loss. “It’s the standards that you hold yourself to among your teammates and with your coaching staff that’s most important this time of year. And our coaches and leaders didn’t let us walk past anything that happened on the weekend, that’s for sure.”
A long-held theory in rugby league holds that a timely loss ahead of the finals can serve as a valuable wake-up call, shaking complacency out of a side that has been on a long winning run and reigniting their hunger for premiership success. While many in the code dismiss this idea as nonsense, Cherry-Evans says he aligns with the theory, and believes the Roosters’ upset defeat will serve exactly that purpose for his side.
“Only time will tell, but I definitely believe it is,” he said. “Did we want to lose? Absolutely not. But it’s happened, and the most important thing now is you take your lessons and you move on really quickly. I do believe that was done today by the whole group.”