Can the Roosters improve?

Where will the Roosters' improvement come from?

With four rounds to go in 2011, the Roosters had one claw on the wooden spoon. An impressive finish to the season, with wins in the last four matches, saw the Bondi boys finish a less-catastrophic eleventh. This seemed a reasonable result after a tough year that included a spate of injuries (at one point 15 players were unavailable for selection) and some unsavoury off-field incidents.

In 2007 the Roosters finished tenth; in 2008 they made the semis; in 2009 they finished dead last; in 2010 they were the losing grand finalist; in 2011 they were eleventh. According to this pattern the Chooks are due to do well in 2012 – but it is unclear where the necessary improvement will come from. The club has lost the experience of Mark Riddell, Daniel Conn, Phil Graham and Jason Ryles, and the representative ability of Nate Myles and Todd Carney. Kane Linnett and Anthony Watts have also departed. They have been replaced by small-salary recruits who were fringe players at their former clubs, including Jack Bosden and Peni Tagive from the Dragons, Daniel Tupou and Daniel Mortimer from the Eels, Adam Henry from the Warriors, and Josh Ailaomai from the Knights. None of them are automatic first-17 selections.

Brian Smith is an extremely shrewd coach. He knows as well as anyone that Roosters chair Nick Politis demands success, but it seems likely that Smithy has told the power-broker 2012 will be a rebuilding year. The club's all-time leading try scorer Anthony Minichiello turns 32 in May. Skipper Braith Anasta is 30. Otherwise the squad is relatively young, so the strategy is likely to be one of player development while keeping an eye out for a superstar recruit such as Cooper Cronk or Sonny Bill Williams.

Luckless backrower Anthony Cherrington will not be available until later in the season after a third knee operation, but the rest of the squad is fit and ready. Look for Smith to give opportunities to younger players and challenge them to become integral parts of the Rooster machine from 2013 onwards.

Was Daniel Mortimer a smart buy?

Eyebrows were raised when Mortimer – tried and discarded at Parramatta – was signed by the Roosters. His best position, five-eighth, is currently occupied by club captain Anasta, and the Roosters have bought one of the game's best pivots – James Maloney – for the 2013 season onwards. Mortimer has put his hand up to play fullback, the job currently held by Minichiello, but insiders believe that Toyota Cup stars Alofa Alofa and Henare Wells are the natural heirs to Mini's mantle at the back. Mortimer may provide value as a bench utility and back-up hooker. He lacks a bit of pace for custodian or the centres, but his biggest issue is self-confidence. If Brian Smith can help him recover some self-belief, he could be a shrewd buy. Otherwise this will just be a stopover en route to the English Super League.

Will the bad boys be missed?

The ugliest aspect of 2011 for the Roosters was the disrespect shown towards the club by gifted but wayward stars Myles, Carney and Anthony Watts, as well as Frank-Paul Nuuausala. The first three have been let go; big Frank-Paul will know he is not to step out of line again. The trouble these senior players made was an enormous distraction and set a lousy example to the rest of the squad. Watts – who admitted to prescription drug abuse and was charged with assaulting his ex-partner, among other issues – at least showed the right attitude when he said, "I blame everything on myself, 100 per cent. I'm not going to bag anyone. I made the bad choices, so I'm responsible. It wasn't the Roosters, it wasn't anyone else. It was me." This was a perspective not articulated by the other wayward Roosters. As brilliant as Myles and Carney could be, the club is undoubtedly better off without them. The biggest task of 2012, apart from avoiding the wooden spoon, will be rebuilding a cohesive, proud, disciplined club culture.

The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of BigPond Sport.