Brad Fittler tips the Roosters almost every week, so it should come as no surprise that the club’s legendary ex-captain is backing them to win a sixth game in a row when they visit the Cowboys on Thursday night.
However, there is a longstanding Roosters trend that adds weight to the prediction and it started way back when Fittler was playing.
Speaking on Nine’s Freddy and The Eighth, Fittler recalled that in his years playing for the Roosters between 1996 and 2004, the Tricolours had a special affinity with Townsville, where they had a nine-year winning streak against the Cowboys.
More recently, the Bondi boys have again established a winning streak in tropical Queensland, winning their last three games at Queensland Country Bank Stadium going back as far as round nine, 2020.
It’s a bizarre trend considering the unique conditions the Cowboys have for home games, with hot and humid weather and a long trip to get there.
Adding to the narrative is that the Cowboys actually have the wood over the Roosters in recent times, having won three of their last four clashes – two of them in Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium and the other at Allianz Stadium in Sydney where the two clubs have squared their most recent two clashes.
The Roosters haven’t, in fact, travelled to Townsville since 2022, when they won a round four clash 28-4. Prior to that, they won a round eight 2021 clash 34-18 and a round nine 2020 clash 42-16.
It’s not clear whether the Roosters under Trent Robinson use the same incentive for a Townsville trip as they did under the coaching of Phil Gould back in the early 2000s, which Fittler shared on Freddy and the Eighth.
“The first time I played for the Roosters we went to Townsville and, so when you used to go to Townsville, because it’s a fun place, there used to be girls standing at the airport giving you drink vouchers, from the Mad Cow, and Bullwinkles (it has since been renamed Bullys) and stuff,” Fittler recalled.
“I remember Gus said, ‘righto’, called us all in the night before and said, ‘if you don’t win, you don’t go out’. The Eastern Suburbs boys went up there and nine years in a row we never got beat.
“If I was ever tired – ‘what do you want to do tonight? Serious? Make your tackles or you’re not going out’. Never lost for nine years.”
While Fittler is backing the Roosters – second on the ladder and flying – to continue their winning ways in Townsville, Andrew Johns has reason to believe the Cowboys are about to disrupt the trend.
“I can’t believe the Roosters are red hot favourites in this one. Cowboys, short turnaround but the advantage is that they played at home last week,” Johns said on Wide World of Sports’ NRL Tips.
“No Reed Mahoney, no Tommy Dearden but the form Jake Clifford’s been in. I know he got dropped for a couple of weeks but gee he’s been killing it this year.
“The challenge of the forward packs is going to be really good – (Jason) Taumalolo and (Thomas) Mikaele, Coen Hess, (Reuben) Cotter; Naufahu Whyte, Spencer (Leniu), Victor (Radley)… but the ones I look forward to you’ve got Heilum Luki and Jeremiah Nanai going at Sammy Walker and DCE (Daly Cherry-Evans) – so the battle of (Cowboys) backrowers against the halves of the Roosters.”
The eighth-placed Cowboys host the Roosters to kick off round 22 , kicking off at 7.50pm (AEST) Thursday night.
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