Rugby League / Andy Morris / 12 June 2008 / Leave a comment " class="free-bet-btn" rel="external">Bet Now

The Roosters can still be backed against the Panthers, despite their Round 13 loss, writes Andy Morris.

Any team that is smashed 42-0 the week before - in the Roosters' case, by the Sea Eagles in Round 13 - will have their confidence shaken.

The key question for the Roosters is whether their loss to Manly, where the writing was on the wall after two Steven Bell tries inside the first 10 minutes, will affect them this time out.

It is tempting to write the Manly match off as a bad day at the office. Every team, even at the top of the ladder, will have the occasional blip.

But many of the stats from that game are worrying for those thinking of backing the Roosters to win this one.

Against Manly, they were exposed by their opponents' kick-chase pressure, and had five line drop-outs. They coughed up the ball before tackle two a massive nine times, and were forced to make over 100 more tackles than the Sea Eagles.

The defeat actually exposed one of the Roosters' weaknesses all season. At 178, they are second in the league in terms of errors, behind only the Bulldogs, with Shaun Kenny-Dowall the competition's no. 1 culprit in 2008 with 27 errors.

On the other hand, the Roosters have played well in recent weeks and won three of their previous four matches by 20 or more points.

They have been impressive in a number of areas this season, particularly in the amount of work they have put in. They are second in the competition in all run metres, at 16,848 - individually they have three players (Sam Perrett, Kenny-Dowall and Mark O'Meley) in the top 12 in all run metres this year.

O'Meley is one of the real workhorses of the side, and his 143 hit ups for the year put him second in the competition behind only the Dragons' Jason Ryles.

However, Penrith will be sure to try and counter this strength of the Roosters, and in Rhys Wesser they have the perfect ammunition. He had an excellent game last time out against the Sharks, his 22 runs during the game giving him 216 metres gained - the most of any player in the round.

The Roosters have won three of the last four meetings with the Panthers, including a 28-12 victory in round five this year.

But the Panthers have proved a good team on the road in 2008, having chalked up an 80 per cent win record away from home.

They also have a good record at the Sydney Football Stadium - they are unbeaten at the ground since 2004, having won three of the last four meetings there.

It all points to this clash being a close one, with the Roosters' work-rate and success with the boot (a competition-leading 45 per cent of their tries this season have come from kicks) possibly just tipping the outcome in their favour.