Even before Turpin was ruled out, I said it was going to get worse before it gets better and sadly the Broncos proved me right.
The Roosters are a quality side that have maintained the same core structures for seven years with quality recruits filling those roles all the time. Tonight was really no different and even with a full strength side it would have been a big ask.
The Broncos were awful, I'm not skirting around that, but these new rules have excacerbated things and made things appear far worse than what they are. Two back to back six again tries and the night was over. Roosters smelt blood in the water and just kept playing while the Broncos just couldn't wait to get off the field. Without the fans there to lift them, without that atmosphere and with everything going against you against a better outfit, it just piles up. Suddenly all the penalties are going against them, they hardly got any relief penalties until it was too late in the half to really do anything with it, and the refs can't even make up their minds on obstructions.
I said last week it was a young team and I stand by that. These players who are going to make up the nucleus of this team like Dearden, Paix, Niu, Coates, Bullemor, Haas, Fifita, Carrigan, Flegler etc. are all young players and we saw tonight why you can't carry too many of them because they're too raw.
Certainly a horrific night for the club, but I feel a lot of this has been exacerbated by a bad draw, bad injury toll, an interrupted season, new rule interpretations that make games far too one-sided and honestly some tough calls.