WEST Footscray was blown out of the water in the first term of a disappointing 45-point loss to Albanvale in the Western Region Football League division 2 at Robert Bruce Oval on Saturday.
Trailing by 36 points at quarter-time, the game was as good as over for the Roosters, particularly with the Cobras being the more willing to put their head over the footy and create play with hard work out of the stoppages.
“The first quarter was the difference,” Roosters coach Rohan MacKenzie told the Weekly.
MacKenzie was not in any mood to let his players hide behind the numbers on the scoreboard in the last three quarters.
The Roosters were were only -9 in those last three periods, but it only masks the harsh reality of their ineptness in certain departments.
“There were two main things that killed us,” MacKenzie said. “Our work rate wasn’t good enough and we lost the contested footy.
“We were lucky to be so close [down 29 points] at half-time.”
The season has taken a sharp turn for the worse for the Roosters in a short space of time.
After a big win over Braybrook on Anzac Day, the Roosters were sitting pretty in the top two.
A lengthy 17-day break and two losses later, they have tumbled to sixth with a 3-3 record.
A daunting trip to Wyndhamvale’s spacious ground now awaits – not the place you want to travel to if you are a Roosters side looking for a way out of a slump.
“It’s one of the biggest tests,” MacKenzie said.
“We play on the smallest ground every second week so we’ve got to lift our work rate when we travel to the bigger grounds. It’s still 18 on 18.”
Daniel Backus was one of the few Roosters willing to dig in to win the hard ball. The on-baller got his skates on to hurt the Cobras out of the contest and was rewarded with a two-goal game.
Gary Pascu was a welcome inclusion to the line-up.
“He missed a lot of the preseason with injury,” MacKenzie said. “It was his second game in and he was really solid.”
The man with the toughest task for the Roosters was perhaps full back Brenton Turner. The Cobras put the Roosters defence under all sorts of pressure with a constant bombardment and, time and again, Turner was there to limit the damage, to be named best for his team.
The Roosters recently added firepower to their forward line with the capture of former Braybrook forward Jamie Lane.
Lane, the son of Roosters assistant coach and one-time WRFL goal kicking star Steven, booted three goals and is backed to form a lethal attacking tandem with Lindon Harris (two goals).
