Hasler fears Roosters ready to rebound - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Hasler fears Roosters ready to rebound

By Ian McCullough 02/06/2009 02:30:23 PM Comments (0)

Manly coach Des Hasler admits he fears a Cronulla-style return to form from Sydney Roosters on Saturday when the defending premiers take on Brad Fittler's struggling side at Brookvale.

The Roosters sit second-last on the NRL ladder and have tasted defeat in their last four matches, but Hasler said the Sharks' surprise win over Parramatta, to end a run of nine successive defeats, last Saturday should stand as a warning to his side.

"They worry me, they have a lot of experience there and sooner or later it is going to click as we saw from Cronulla at the weekend," Hasler told AAP.

"Like us they have been going through some tough times but I know they had a good heartfelt discussion about things last week and got a few things in the open and that will be good for them and they will be hard to beat."

The Roosters have brought in Artie Beetson as an assistant to help the under-fire Fittler and Hasler said the move is a positive one by the club.

"Bringing in Artie is a good thing for them, it freshens things up and adds even more experience to a club that has a lot of it on and off the field," he said.

"They have been hanging in there in games and we have to make sure we are good enough not to let them get on top of us and get up a head of steam."

Manly have racked up 98 unanswered points in their last two games at Brookvale against the Roosters but Hasler said it is a stat that hasn't even crossed his mind.

"Previous scores do not mean anything in this competition, that was last year and a lot of things have changed since then," he said.

"The last time we actually played them was at their place we lost ... I don't know whether they will talk about it but we won't as it counts for nothing now."

Hasler also said he was pleased to see the NRL had acted to tweak the two-referees system with the senior official now responsible for the last 10 minutes of the match, following his side's controversial defeat to the Gold Coast in Manly's last game.

"It is good to see they are reacting and showing a bit of accountability," he said.

"I have had a couple of discussions with (referees coach) Robert Finch and they have been OK, but we have put all that behind us now and we are looking ahead and not the past."

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