This time 12 months ago, the Roosters took on the Cowboys and couldn’t score – never looked like scoring either – for 79 minutes of a muddy, miserable Magic Round outing.
On Sunday, arguably the most analysed and scrutinised attack in the NRL takes on the Cowboys again.
The Roosters are now averaging almost 31 points a game (a try clear of the competition’s next best) and have clocked up 37 tries in the past five weeks against the Dragons, Broncos, Warriors, Sharks and Raiders.
Halfback Sam Walker debuted a dubious beard – to convince nightclub bouncers he is actually 21, according to teammates – before tearing St George Illawarra to shreds on Anzac Day.
He dubiously insists it is the Roosters’ lucky charm. But it is a pointer to his own maturing as a playmaker along with an emerging influence in the red, white and blue – where the likes of Connor Watson, Terrell May, Spencer Leniu and Angus Crichton have helped lift Trent Robinson’s side.
Walker has produced eight try-assists in the past five weeks but it’s his kicking game, under the tutelage of assistant, ex-Titans coach and one-time Roosters No.7 Justin Holbrook, that he’s managing especially well.
“I’ve spent a lot of time on it,” Walker says.
“I’ve always been confident with my kicking game, but again it feels like I know which kick to put on in different situations a bit better.
