They conceded a try to Tom Trbojevic in the opening seconds of the match and lost forward Egan Butcher only moments later to a Category 1 HIA.
Yet the Sydney Roosters have delivered a performance of unprecedented discipline to dispatch Manly (and their DCE booing fans) 33-16 at 4 Pines Park conceding no penalties and registering one of the highest completion rates ever seen in the NRL.
Last night’s match saw the Roosters complete a remarkable 49 of their 51 sets in attack for an elite completion rate of 96%—a stunning improvement on the 67% completion rate in their Round 3 loss to the Panthers.
According to data from the Fox Sports Lab the performance was also the Rooster’s most ever completed sets under Trent Robinson who joined the club as head coach back in 2013 and their second best ever completion rate.
Manly meanwhile completed 27 of their 36 sets at 75%.
Unsurprisingly off the back of such outstanding respect for the ball, the Roosters dominated field position and possession (58%) making life extremely difficult for the Sea Eagles who scored all three of their tries from long range.
The Roosters’ completion rate was made even more impressive given a ferocious electrical storm dumped 3cm of rain in just 15 minutes as it lashed Brookvale before the match and at one stage threatened to delay the kick-off after causing electrical issues to the ground’s lighting system.
After the match Manly coach Anthony Seibold agreed the lack of territory or possession had been the deciding factors in the match, particularly in the second half after his side had led 10-8 at half time.
“We probably didn’t have too much possession in the second half and we fought really hard,” Seibold lamented, moments after chants of ‘Seibold out’ had echoed around the ground as the player’s left the field.
