Altona Roosters cruised past lowly Craigieburn Phoenix on Saturday to keep a tentative hold on fourth spot in the Victorian Rugby League’s first grade.
The Roosters ran in 11 tries in the 56-16 rout with Justin Bernard, Nathan Hurinui, Petro Nakubuwai and Josh Hurinui each crossing for two tries.
Roosters president Brandon Taonoa said his side was starting to find form at the right time of the season.
“Our form at the start was really poor, but now the boys are starting to gel a bit more and look really good to watch,” he said. “The last couple of weeks have been really good for us and we’ve got a good run home, too.”
The margin of victory was somewhat surprising considering the amount of young talent the Roosters had missing for the game.
Teenage stars Jamayne Taunoa-Brown, Melvin and Paula Fifita, Amanaki Manu, Apunea Vaka and Rikki Turner were all unavailable for selection while representing an affiliated states representative side at the national schoolboys championships in Darwin, which start this weekend.
The Roosters are proud of their junior nursery with a large chunk of their top side under the age of 20.
“We’ve got some good young talent there,” Taonoa said. “We try and develop them and bring them through our senior ranks.
“We missed our young boys [against Craigieburn], but we’ve got some good depth and a few of the older boys stepped up.”
Keni Blair was the catalyst for the Roosters at half-back, while Caine Sinclair did a power of work as hooker.
Blair worked hard to direct his team around the park and got reward for effort with a try of his own and four conversions.
“He was our standout,” Taonoa said.
The Roosters will again be without their young representative stars for a clash with the ladder-leading Sunbury Tigers at Loft Reserve on Saturday.
