Trent Robinson has decided to swing the axe and drop veteran playmaker, Chad Townsend. The Roosters are 1-4 to start the season, and with games against Brisbane and Penrith in the next fortnight, you may as well do it (considering we likely will be 1-6 after 7).
I must admit – I was optimistic about Townsend arriving to the club. I wasn’t at all expecting him to be leading the Dally M points by the end of round 5, but thought that his experience would be the perfect balance amongst Sandon Smith who had only played a handful of games. And with the Roosters still boasting plenty of on field talent, be it Teddy, Gus, Watson, Leniu, Collins, Radley etc – I thought all Chad would have to do is kick hard, tackle hard and organise – and we’d be a chance of having 6 or 7 wins under our belt by the time Sam Walker came back. But boy was I wrong. Even though I set my expectations bar relatively low for Chad, he’s insisted on limboing under it.
It’s round 5 and he is yet to register a try, try assist, or line break assist. But this, shockingly, seems to be the least of his worries. This year he’s been awful with just about everything, whether it be dropping the ball, putting up bombs that almost go backward, or just kicking the ball out on the full. The last game against the Bunnies saw him go for a short drop out which landed 1m in the in-goal area. It was so bad it was genuinely impressive. And these are the things that I just can’t watch anymore. I never expected him to be making line breaks and scoring chip and chase kicks like Joey Johns, but I thought at the very least he could go a game without ending our sets with kicks to Row Z. This is just basic shit that I feel even I could do.
But if Trent Robinson is betting on this to be the decision that turns our season around he is horribly mistaken. We’re 1-4 with the last three games being well within our grasp, yet our ball handling and discipline has without a doubt cost us these games. We’ve heard it for years now that it’s the “Roosters way”, and whilst we may have been able to get away with it in 2018-19, our current squad won’t win another game if we continue to complete at 57% and 65% (our last two games respectively), no matter who we put at 7. So whilst I’m glad that Robbo has finally culled Chad Townsend, it won’t be enough if he doesn’t get up them Bellamy style and tell them to hold the fucking ball. If he doesn’t, the next fortnight could be a bloodbath.
