Fear Chooks are ‘having us on’ as scary reality looms

Phil Gould believes the Roosters could have “another three or four gears in them” ahead of finals, describing them as “the most dangerous” side in the NRL.
After sitting in the top four since round 16, the Roosters moved into second place after the Panthers’ shock loss to the Raiders.
On Sunday the Tricolours put in an attacking masterclass, defeating the Titans 48-22 with the club scoring the most points in the competition this year to date – sitting on 690. The next best is Melbourne with 612.
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Gould believes there’s a very real possibility the Roosters aren’t playing to the best of their ability yet.
Angus Crichton celebrates a try for the Roosters. Getty
“I’ve come to the conclusion maybe they’re just having us on, maybe they’ve got another three or four gears in them ready to explode at the end of the year,” he said on Nine’s 100% Footy.
“This is the most dangerous football team in the competition and they’ve got so many points in them. They could just go through the finals and tear everyone apart the way things are going at the moment. They could have a really dominant September and just win in a canter, they’ve got the ability to do that.”
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The league icon’s comments came after he echoed similar sentiments on Saturday before the Titans match.
“Roosters are the one. I’ve been saying for weeks, Melbourne and Penrith are the two best teams in the competition but neither of them are as good as they’ve been in yesteryear,” he said on Nine’s Saturday Night Footy.
“The Roosters are the ones with the roster, they might have another two gears, I don’t think we’ve seen the Roosters flat out at any stage this season. They may not get there, we might be waiting for something that doesn’t happen, I don’t know. Their last 20 games against Melbourne and Penrith they’ve won one, which is significant. They just can’t beat them.
“Penrith aren’t the side they’ve been in previous years, they’ve lost players and got young fellas coming in. Melbourne Storm are phenomenal what they’re doing with the roster they’ve got and here in between them is this $15m roster that just absolutely should be winning everything and they just haven’t hit the mark yet, but they could.”
However, the one concern for the Roosters could be their defence.
Currently they sit fifth in the competition for points against with the Bulldogs, Panthers, Sharks and Storm all ahead of them.
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NRL 2016 premiership winner Paul Gallen believes that could be the difference.
“I said last week to Gus, I get the feeling they are cantering, they’re just taking it easy,” he said on 100% Footy.
“They’ve still got two or three gears, they’re sitting in second gear and have plenty to go.
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“There still is a question mark for me defensively. They played the Titans yesterday (Sunday), the Titans are a great attacking side, they can score tries other teams can’t score and did score 22 points but their (Roosters) discipline in big games can be an issue, they missed 44 tackles, gave away nine penalties, they still have issues in their game.
“I do think their coach is that good they could just have it in their mindset they’ll just turn it on come semi final time but there’s still that question mark for me.
“They haven’t been that ruthless side you need to be to win a premiership. Talent wise, they’ve got it all over the park, everywhere.”