By Lance Jenkinson
Altona Roosters are the form team of the NRL Victoria first grade.
The Roosters are riding a six-game winning streak that has included defeats of the top two sides, Truganina Rabbitohs and Werribee Bears.
It has been an incredible turnaround for the Roosters, who lost their opening five matches of the season.
Roosters captain Jackson Brenchley said his side’s run of bad luck appeared to be over.
“We were a bit unlucky at the start of the year,” he said.
“We had a few injuries and we had some bits and pieces not go our way.”
He pinpoints the loss to Casey Warriors in round four as a turning point when the Roosters began to find some belief amid a hellish run.
“Probably the turnaround was the loss to Casey … we scored four tries, didn’t kick a goal and they scored three tries and kicked all their goals and won by two points,” he said.
Altona has been dangerous in attack from the first game of the season, but the improvement has come from its defence.
In the first five rounds, the Roosters conceded 30.4 points a game, but during the current winning run that has dropped to a more manageable 19 per game.
“The last six weeks it’s come together,” Brenchley said. “We’re playing the way we want to play, playing our brand. We’re just winning ugly, which is typical of the Roosters over the years – grinding out wins.”
Altona has made some key structural moves to find the right balance.
The defence has been strengthened with the addition of brothers Jordan and Shayne Peato.
“They’re just tough as,” Brenchley said. “Defensively, they just hold guys out that normally would run over teams.”
The biggest changes came in the halves combination.
Brenchley was moved into the hooker role, making way for a new combo of half-back Blaze Rata and five-eighth Josh Ka.
“I started the year in the halves and it wasn’t really working for us,” Brenchley said. “They moved me back to hooker and we moved Josh Ka to five-eighth and he’s been able to pull out the right plays at the right time.”
Brenchley is the leading points scorer in the competition. He has scored three tries to go with 26 goals for 64 points.
Roosters second rower Maier Laga is the leading tryscorer in the competition with nine – three ahead of teammate Rata and Sunbury’s Alti Porter.
July is a stop-start month for Altona.
The Roosters will face third-placed Northern Thunder this Saturday before a week’s break, then square off with ladder leaders Truganina and Werribee in the following two weeks.
The Altona Roosters cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball.
“The next three games are our biggest tests, I reckon,” Brenchley said. “Northern Thunder is two games ahead of us, Werribee, last year’s premiers, is two games ahead of us and Truganina is three games ahead on top. Those three teams are the teams to beat.”
