Why Smith is still bullish on Roosters’ Premiership chances

NRL legend Cameron Smith has admitted he is unwilling to rule out the Sydney Roosters in 2024 despite an ever-growing list of long-term injuries to some of the side’s stars.

Trent Robinson’s team endured a disastrous Round 26 with stars Sam Walker and Brandon Smith suffering season-ending ACL injuries, whilst forward Victor Radley is set to miss an extended period of time with a shoulder injury.

Walker’s absence for the rest of the year was enough for many to put a line through the Roosters’ Premiership chances but with a handful of healthy stars raring to go ahead of finals, Smith is remaining optimistic.

“Look at their lineup still, I’m not willing to put a line through them, I can’t,” Smith said on SEN 1170 The Captain’s Run.

“Not with the names and calibre of players still in their lineup, they have JWH to come back as well… he brings a lot of experience to the side at the right time of the year.

“You’re replacing those injured players with guys like Connor Watson, (he’s) a State of Origin player, he showed his quality this year for the Blues.

“Then you have a guy like Sandon Smith as well, (he’s) a very, very good footballer.

“They’re different and they’ve got different qualities but, I’ll tell you what they’re still high quality and very dangerous with the football.

“That’s where they’ve shown they can make a huge dint in this competition is with the ball, they can score points.

“They’re a dangerous footy side, if they get it right they’re a hard side to beat, I’m not writing them off at the moment.

“It most certainly makes it a little bit more difficult for the Roosters to win the whole thing, there’s no doubt about that and it sort of puts Melbourne and Penrith in a box seat to go all the way to the Grand Final, but I’m not going to put a line through the Roosters and say, ‘Well, their season is over’.”

The Roosters are all but locked into a top four finish and will finish their regular season with an away trip to face arch-rivals the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Friday night.