SEN NRL expert Matty Johns believes the Sydney Roosters have what it takes to become the 2023 NRL Premiers.
The 2018 and 2019 competition winners made the quarterfinals last season before their hopes of a third title in five years were dashed by the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
However, the ensuing Rugby League World Cup in England allowed some of Bondi’s biggest stars to flaunt their talent on the international stage, three of whom caught Johns’ eye.
“The three best players coming out of the World Cup were James Tedesco, Joseph Sua’ali’i and Joey Manu,” Johns told SENZ Breakfast.
“So those three blokes in that Roosters side … they’re going to be (hard to beat).
“They’re my favourites to win it.”
Tedesco captained the Kangaroos to World Cup glory while Manu received the Golden Boot and NZ Rugby League Player of the Year for his phenomenal international season with the Kiwis.
Teen sensation Sua’ali’i also starred at the tournament, leading Samoa all the way to the Grand Final.
While Johns is tipping the Sydney side to take out the upcoming NRL season, he says the reigning champion Panthers won’t be far behind.
“Penrith have … they’ve got all these brilliant young guys coming through and they’re about to (shine),” Johns added.
“What we’ve seen with (Viliame) Kikau moving on (and losing) Burton is when young players start to get better and you win competitions, then suddenly you’ve got to start to disperse players.
“You’ve got to make a decision too, they’ve got some of the best young players in the game and they had to make a decision: Do we lose one of our 30-year-old players or do we lose three or four of our best 19, 20-year-olds.
“You can see at the moment that they’re starting to go down the latter; they had to let Viliame go (and he is) a big loss.
“(But) if youve got the best halfback in the competition, which they have, and they’ve got Jarome (Luai) there of course … and some of the other guys, you know that they’re going to go really close.”
Johns is also tipping the Canterbury Bulldogs to be in the mix after signing Kikau and former Penrith assistant Cam Ciraldo as head coach.