Roosters turn to NRL showdown with Storm

Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson concedes his side is going "okay" ahead of their NRL clash with Melbourne which will decide the premiership frontrunners.

Sydney Roosters star Latrell Mitchell

Latrell Mitchell and his Sydney Roosters side are facing up for their big NRL clash with the Storm. (AAP)

They've been pegged as the team to beat and NRL premiership favourites but Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson insists they're only going "okay".

After dispatching Cronulla 30-16 in a Jekyll and Hyde performance on Saturday, the premiers are facing a colossal showdown with fellow frontrunners Melbourne on Friday night.

Last year's grand finalists already look to be miles ahead of almost every other side in the competition after five rounds and the competition lead will be on the line at AAMI Park.

The Roosters are $3.60 with the bookies to become the first team since 1993 to win back-to-back premierships in a united competition.

But Robinson isn't buying into the hype, despite his team displaying moments of brilliance, which made them look a step ahead of everyone else, in their win over the Sharks.

"I think we're going okay," Robinson said.

"It's not being rude and it's not trying to play things down.

"I'm seeing some guys train really confidently and play really confidently.

"I'm still not satisfied, let's keep working hard, there's a long way to go, we've got to improve and keep working."

As he has so often been since his Clive Churchill-winning performance in last year's grand final, Luke Keary was once again the star of the show in their defeat of the Sharks.

He set up three tries - and almost had a fourth try assist only for Angus Crichton to spill a perfectly-weighted grubber over the try line.

The Roosters' superstar contingent of Keary, Cooper Cronk, Latrell Mitchell and James Tedesco combined to put on three tries in eight minutes to break the Sharks' spirit either side of halftime.

While Robinson marvelled at some of the things his side produced, he was nonplussed by what he described as 40 minutes of "average" football.

His side committed 14 errors and completed at 68 per cent and he conceded they were far from the finished product.

"In sport a lot of people review on whether you win or lose," Robinon said.

"You can fluctuate with wins and losses.

"The idea is not to review based on that - what actually happened? What did we do well? And what do we want to improve on?

"There was some stuff there that I want to see a lot of.

"There were some combinations and guys that worked in some good areas. There was some really good stuff. And there was some stuff that we should say 'that's not at NRL level'."


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Source: AAP



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