'Only gonna get better': Billy Slater's scary call as 'ruthless' Roosters poised for premiership tilt

Sydney Roosters officials knew they needed to make some changes to become genuine premiership contenders once again after years of being labelled as pretenders.

After eight games, it's suffice to say things are heading in the right direction and this "serious footy team" appear primed for a deep run into September.

The first major call came 18 months ago when the Tricolours landed the signing of NSW hooker Reece Robson, clearly identifying a change was needed in the No.9 jersey after the well-documented Brandon Smith experiment backfired on the club.

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The next big recruitment coup came in the form of Daly Cherry-Evans, who stunned the rugby league world when he walked out on Manly after a stellar career with the club.

Cherry-Evans was linked with the Roosters for the majority of last year despite both parties remaining coy, letting every man and their dog have an opinion.

Hugo Savala's emergence and Sam Walker's late-season form, which lifted the Chooks into the top eight, only furthered the question marks around DCE's arrival.

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Through eight games, Cherry-Evans has scored four tries and registered five try assists, while also forcing six dropouts with his astute kicking game.

His defence, which copped criticism in some heavy early-season losses to the Warriors and Panthers, has been more than solid, operating at 93.2 per cent tackle efficiency.

Robson has been brilliant since coming back from injury, Walker and Cherry-Evans have started to gel as a halves pairing, while timeless captain and fullback James Tedesco continues to prove himself as a rugby league marvel and an all-time great.

The outside backs - Daniel Tupou, Mark Nawaqanitawase and Robert Toia - have been doing their job at both ends of the field, while the aforementioned Savala has taken to the completely unfamiliar centre position like a duck to water with Billy Smith injured.

In the pack, Naufahu Whyte is now undoubtedly one of the best props in the game and he lays a tremendous platform with his powerful carries, Lindsay Collins and Victor Radley bring pure red-line aggression, Angus Crichton and Siua Wong are damaging on the edges, while Nat Butcher has strung together some of the best football of his career.

It's a balanced, star-studded outfit that's only just scratching the surface.

The proof is in the pudding, too - the six wins and two losses is the best start to a year for the Roosters since 2021, who have been slow out of the gates far too many times and relied on surging into the finals with a wet sail, often leaving their run too late.

This time last year, the Roosters had won three games. At the same stage in 2024, they had four wins. The two seasons prior to that had yielded five wins from eight games.

The last time the Chooks were going better after eight games was in 2019 - the last time they tasted premiership glory - with seven wins and one loss at the same stage.

And it was the first half against reigning premiers Brisbane - who admittedly were struck down by injuries - in round nine that put the rest of the NRL on notice.

Queensland coach Billy Slater was in awe of how the Roosters went about their business early, racing away to a 30-0 lead before staving off a late Broncos comeback.

"The one thing I did learn [from that game] is that the Roosters are a serious footy team," he said on Nine's The Billy Slater Podcast this week.

"They have got so much brilliance and talent in this team, but they were ferocious with their physicality. I haven't seen the Roosters play like this all year ... this was the first time I have seen them be ruthless with their physicality.

"It looked like they were running downhill."

Slater believes if that same level of tenacity shown without the ball becomes a consistent feature for the Roosters, the creative players in the spine will end up playing on "autopilot" similar to his own legendary combination at the Melbourne Storm.

"They've had a couple of months playing together now," he said.

"Two of those guys, Reece Robson and Daly Cherry-Evans, weren't in this organisation last year, so these are all new combinations.

"For those guys to understand and start building combinations and connecting on the field, it starts to become muscle memory and it's like you're on autopilot.

"I was fortunate enough to play with Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith ... sometimes there were no calls and it was just a feel and I knew what they were gonna do.

"That will grow over time for this group and everyone else will sink into their movements.

"They're in a really good spot the Roosters and I think they're only gonna get better, especially if they keep that physicality with their defence up."

These platitudes aren't uncommon for the Roosters, especially when wins pile up and everyone takes notice of the amount of elite-level players at their disposal, but the query around whether they can topple the likes of Penrith when it matters most remains.

No team in the NRL era has won a premiership from outside the top four and in recent seasons, that has been a major factor going against Trent Robinson's side.

The looming State of Origin period will prove to be tricky, but the winning start to the year means the Roosters have some breathing space and can keep ticking along.

And if they "only get better" like Slater and many others are predicting, there's reason to believe the Roosters could be on their way towards a 16th premiership.