Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson says his side lacked mental toughness in their rare lapse, leading to a shock 25-24 defeat to the Wests Tigers on Sunday.Not only did the loss bring an eight-match win streak to a close, but the tri-colours fumbled top spot on the ladder, dropping to third in a crucial race for the NRL’s minor premiership.
Robinson remained frustrated at the Roosters being unable to hold the same level of consistency shown in the past two months.
“It’s always hard to say what the answer is, but the reality was that’s what happened,” Robinson said in his post-match press conference.
“I can sit here and say it didn’t, but we weren’t as mentally strong today as what we needed to be, and that was the truth.
“If we were mentally strong, we would have made those choices that I was saying about coming off the short side or chasing back or finishing off that play or catching the ball.
“If we were on, and I’m talking about all 17 connected – the coaching box (and) the wider squad.
“If we’re all connected, we make those choices, and we didn’t. Wherever it came from, we didn’t get that right today, so mindset and skillset suffered today.”
The Roosters started fast, with Billy Smith crossing within three minutes on the left wing, but couldn’t sustain the intensity, which allowed the Tigers to score the next three tries.
“(It was a) poor game from us. We started the game (off well), scored the first try, earned enough field position there (but) poor execution of opportunities,” he added.
“Then opened the door a few times on the left edge there for tries and came back 12-all, opened the door again.
“We know this year that we’ve been good at handling different scorelines and how to attack that, so that was a position out of today.
“But to not honour your style of play was really disappointing today.”
Tigers halfback Jock Madden stepped up to seal the match-winner, snapping an eight-game losing streak.
Benji Marshall’s outfit will round out their season with matches against the Cowboys and Panthers, while the Roosters face the Dolphins, then arch-rivals South Sydney.
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