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Smith to keep Roosters on an even keel after season to remember

احدث اجدد واروع واجمل واشيك Smith to keep Roosters on an even keel after season to remember

Smith to keep Roosters on an even keel after season to remember

Nothing for granted ... Roosters coach Brian Smith.

Nothing for granted ... Roosters coach Brian Smith. Photo: Getty Images

SYDNEY ROOSTERS coach Brian Smith wants his team to avoid falling from NRL grand finalists to also-rans like Parramatta did last season.

The Eels went from runners-up in 2009 to missing out on the finals last year, and Smith said his team must not think just because they went from wooden-spooners to grand finalists in a year that another successful year lay ahead.

''The obvious thing is that you think that it's all going to happen again just because it did last year rather than thinking about what it was that got us there last year,'' Smith said yesterday when asked what the biggest challenge was in rebounding from a grand final defeat. ''It was the consistent efforts of almost everyone in our club, from our board and our management. We were all one big tight team last year so I hope we can do that again. That's the core of why we did well last season.''

Brian Smith during a Roosters fan day at the SFS last year.

Brian Smith during a Roosters fan day at the SFS last year. Photo: Getty Images

Having turned the Bondi club around following a clear-out of the playing stocks at the end of the disastrous 2009 campaign, Smith believes there's no reason his team shouldn't be better this season.

The side hasn't lost any big names in the off-season, and certain combinations, such as the halves pairing of Mitchell Pearce and Dally M medallist Todd Carney, will be better for having spent a season together.

''I hope the expectation's a bit higher than at this time last year but I think the expectation grew amongst us all as last season grew itself,'' Smith said. ''It was a most enjoyable season, and with the number of young guys that we've got, almost all returning to us this year and with us all knowing each other a bit better, I think we're in for a great opportunity in 2011. I think we had a great 2010, and I think we're in a great position to have an even better 2011.''

Meanwhile,  Carney wants to move on from being the story of last season. His journey from league outcast to Dally M medallist and Australian representative was well publicised, but he  wants people to move on and get to a new chapter in the Carney life story, hopefully one that ends with a 2011 grand final victory.

''I think the redemption story got old in the middle of last year,'' Carney said yesterday after beginning his second week of pre-season training. I'm happy just to go along as any other player, as a normal footballer. Obviously you can't turn back time, it's always going to come up as an issue, and while ever I'm playing football it's going to.

''I've got the support staff and people here at the Roosters who can handle those things, and I'm confident in myself, as I said last year, that I'm in a good frame of mind, that it's all sweet.''

So if the yarn surrounding the 24-year-old five-eighth isn't his rebirth as a genuine superstar after being sacked by Canberra in 2008 following a string of alcohol-fuelled incidents, then what is it?

How does being the main man as the Roosters chase the premiership glory that eluded them when StGeorge Illawarra thumped them 32-8 in last year's grand final sound?

''Always pretty shattering when you get to that grand final and fall one short,'' Carney said. ''Not taking anything away from the Dragons, they were the better team on the day and they deserved it after the year they had. For us, for me, for the team to go one better would be great but at the moment there's 15 other teams wanting that prize, too.''

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