Trent Robinson admits Roosters were underprepared in shock opening round loss

Joshua Mayne

Trent Robinson admits Roosters were underprepared in shock opening round loss image

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson was blunt when it came to assessing what went wrong in his team's round one performance against the Newcastle Knights.

Speaking after the surprise 20-6 loss, he admitted his side was not at the required level of intensity. 

"We were physically beaten," Robinson said.

"They [the Knights] carried stronger than us, we got beaten, we were sort of put on our back.

"We looked pretty flat there at times ... we were a bit underdone on playing NRL.

"We just had too many [players] that couldn't get to a standard that we wanted to ... and that was where we were at with our prep going in ... we sort of knew that."

However, Robinson did believe that the team's character was a redeeming aspect of their performance.

"I felt like we were brave in the way that we sort of fought hard when we weren't in-form," he added.

"We were trying to work it out but we just ... we couldn't overcome [the errors]."

Newcastle Knights
Getty Images

Robinson also sounded off regarding the new Bunker injury assessment system, which saw the Roosters lose both Victory Radley and Billy Smith.

The new protocols have independent doctors ruling if players are concussed via the Bunker, taking the decision away from club medics.

"At one point we're down to one [player] on the interchange," Robinson said.

"Losing both Victor [Radley] and Billy [Smith] to that [Bunker assessment] was tough. 

"I understood [the Bunker's decision] but, you know, he [Smith] went straight to his neck.

"He's got no concussion ... didn't even remember an incident until the doctor showed him.

"So for them to go 'Category One' instead of 'Category Two' was tough for us.

"You've got to give some faith to the doctors to look at it as well ... they [the players] don't have any symptoms at all.

"I think the process is right - what they're trying to put in - it's just that you have got to be careful."

It was a dominant and determined display from the Newcastle Knights at the SCG, who have made a bold statement after many included them in the wooden spoon conversation for this season.

Their 79% completion rate ensured they maintained control of the game, trumping their opponents in almost every key defensive and attacking metric.

Notably, the Knights had seven line breaks compared to the Rooster's zero.

Joshua Mayne

Joshua Mayne Photo

Joshua Mayne is a content producer for The Sporting News Australia based in Sydney, Australia. He has previously worked as a newsreader at 2SER and journalist at Ministry of Sport. While Joshua’s main passions are football, rugby league, basketball and F1, he will watch any sport that's on. He is still waiting for Arsenal to win the Premier League again.