Roosters sweat on Taukeiaho scan after defensive frailties exposed by Bunnies
Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson admits his side's defence through the middle was "very concerning" in their 26-14 NRL loss to South Sydney.
A week after standing up against Cronulla, the Roosters' big men were dominated by the Rabbitohs pack and around the ruck.
Co-captain Boyd Cordner was the only Roosters forward to reach triple figures in terms of running metres, while Thomas Burgess, Damien Cook and John Sutton each made first-half line-breaks through the middle for Souths.
"It opened the game that way and it was really concerning," Robinson said.
None of the Roosters forwards are averaging over 100 running metres this season.
Sio Siua Taukeiaho's knee added injury to insult for the Roosters and they are still waiting on scans.
Taukeiaho was injured late in the warm-up on Thursday night, leaving him as a last-minute scratching for the game.
Any long-term absence would be a significant blow to the Roosters.
Big names not making a mark
Roosters forwards Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Dylan Napa have plenty of representative experience but struggled to make an impact against South Sydney.
Queensland prop Napa made only six hit-ups, reaching 51 metres, while Hargreaves made 83 metres from his eight runs.
Mistakes by fullback James Tedesco gave the Rabbitohs two tries in the first four minutes of the second half, when the score was tied at 8-8, allowing the Rabbitohs to blow out the lead.
But Robinson didn't want to blame his big-money recruit for the loss.
"That start of the second half was disappointing," Robinson said.
"That was disappointing there for Teddy (Tedesco) but then when it came to his ability to play after that he was the one that kept probing.
"That was a real positive there about his involvements and attacking the ruck, I thought that was good."
The club's highest profile recruit, halfback Cooper Cronk, also struggled to hit his high standards against South Sydney.
On an uncharacteristic night for 'perfectionist' Cronk, the halfback threw an inside-pass forward and found defenders with some of his kicks.
Inglis edging back towards best
South Sydney coach Anthony Seibold praised Greg Inglis' resilience after he helped power the club to the win over their arch-rivals.
Inglis admitted he was embarrassed last week after being outplayed by St George Illawarra centre Euan Aitken, but bounced back to show glimpses of his brilliant best on Thursday night.
Inglis scored a key second-half try, leaping above Tedesco to give Souths a 10-point lead they never looked like losing.
The star player's strong effort came in just his sixth match on return from last year's season-destroying knee injury, and after questions had been asked about Inglis' previous performances on the comeback trail.
"I'm really proud of the way Greg has started the year," Seibold said.
"It has been challenging at times for him. We had some pretty tough conversations at times over the pre-season.
"It's a long slog coming back from an ACL. It was really good to see that big smile coming over his face."
AAP/ ABC
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