Trent Robinson was frustrated with his side’s inability to grind out a win after they let a 12-8 lead slip to go down 30-12 to the Titans in what he described as a shootout at the end.
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The Roosters led 12-8 and were pressing the Titans line when an intercept try from Jayden Campbell saw the Titans score four late tries to run away with the game at Allianz Stadium.
Robinson believes his side created enough try-scoring opportunities to win, but were guilty of gifting the opposition just as many.
“There was a lot of opportunities there created throughout the game and obviously we couldn’t finish them off,” Robinson said.
“And then it became a real stop-start game where we had opportunities, there was no attrition, and then they had opportunities.
“I would have liked to finish it off there at 12-8, even 12-all. There was just a couple of moments there that sort of swung the momentum and then we just weren’t calm enough to get it back in our favour again.
“In that last 15 minutes we just didn’t get an opportunity to come and wrestle it back and that’s on us.”
A completion rate of 59 per cent cruelled the Roosters and Robinson admitted his side’s ball control was not up to NRL standard.
“I think we were probably mid-60s last week so if it was high 50s there that’s not NRL standard,” Robinson said.
“You’re going to create opportunities if you play and we’re going to create those opportunities, but then pressure is a big part of the way that NRL has played.
“And when you build none, you’re not going to get those decision-making errors out of the opposition, where you’re going to get the tries.
“We were creating some, but then also giving them a lot of opportunity with our field position through those errors.”
Robinson conceded where his side is at the moment they need to find ways to win ugly when their attack is not clicking and believes they should have closed out the game in the final 20 minutes.
“There was lots of opportunities and it would have been nice to finish them off,” Robinson said.
“But I would have liked us to nail 12-8. I think the progression for us as a team is, I think we will create opportunities, but sitting at 12-8 and feeling comfortable with that would have been a really nice thing as well.
“Yeah, it would have been nice to score 30, but what happens if you score 12? Can you keep them to eight through field position and some uncomfortable moments for them, and it ended up a shootout, which they won.”
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Ill-discipline cost the Roosters, who gave away eight penalties to five, despite missing just 22 tackles to the Titans’ 44.
“There was a lot of penalties in the game,” Robinson said.
“I think from both sides there, there was a lot, but I think we gave three yardage penalties in a row.
“We were trying to build some pressure there, and then we went yardage penalty, yardage penalty, yardage penalty.
“That’s just the ability to apply pressure to an opposition over the course of 80 minutes is NRL footy.
“Whilst you’re doing all the other stuff in between, trying to score tries, trying to stop them, and all of that.
“But the game behind the game is that, and there wasn’t any of that from us. We were having a shootout and we got some linebreaks, didn’t finish them off, but applying pressure over the course of 80 minutes to an opposition is where we need to get.”
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Roosters skipper James Tedesco conceded his side needs to be tougher and grind out wins by backing their defence.
“I feel like we were on top for most of the game,” Robinson said.
“We were making good meters, we were creating opportunities, but I felt like the score line probably didn’t reflect the game, obviously it blew out a bit at the end.
“But I feel like it was right there for us, probably similar to last week, we were right in the game and then momentum shifts a bit at the end that we can’t back our D to stop some tries.
“So I feel like it’s progressing, we’re getting there, we’re showing a lot of good signs, but it’s not tough enough to grind out these wins at the moment.”
The Roosters next face arch rivals the Rabbitohs, who are in form with three wins from four games next Friday at Accor Stadium.
“You go week by week in this competition, so we’ll get onto that on Sunday, but you don’t move on without taking lessons, so we’ll review this first before we start preparing for the opposition,” Robinson said.
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