Coach Trent Robinson says he can 'feel it coming', but there were few signs of the Roosters' world-beating 2013 form present in their ugly 26-18 defeat of the Titans on Monday night.
In atrocious conditions and before a sprinkling of 6,345 spectators at Allianz Stadium, the Tricolours fumbled their way through 16 errors which kept the Titans in the match up until the 78th minute, when a James Maloney penalty goal finally pushed the home side out of reach for the surging visitors.
The saving grace in the performance for the reigning premiers proved to be the resurrection of the famed Bondi Wall, which repelled four repeat sets in a row from the Roosters goal line around the 60-minute mark, and kept the Gold Coast scoreless throughout the second stanza.
Robinson said despite the lacklustre handling, the Roosters could take confidence out of a win that installs them in the top four, two points clear of the Cowboys, Warriors, Storm, Bulldogs and Eels on 26 points, for another week.
"I can feel it coming – we just have prove that," Robinson said when quizzed on when he thought the Roosters would replicate the devastating run of form that saw them crowned premiers last season.
"We wanted to perform in some areas that are important to us. Some of them we did, some of them we didn't.
"I'm not going to say it was a perfect game from us but there have been some trip-ups from teams in the last few rounds and we've had some of those games so it was an important win for us.
"We had to win that game. It could have gone either way but we kept them to zero in the second half. On a night like tonight that shows some character."
Skipper Anthony Minichiello said the Roosters were happy to claim another vital two points any way, anyhow as they close in on a top-four finish.
"Two points is two points," he said.
"We didn't defend that well in the first half but we did really well in the second half."
Minichiello faced off against his brother Mark for the 13th and likely final time having decided to hang up the boots at the end of the year, and hinted that the Titans second-rower may be set to make a similar announcement in coming weeks.
"He's definitely got something to offer, there's no doubt about that," Minichiello said when quizzed on his younger brother's future.
"But he's got a decision to make in the next week or two. I know what it is but I'll let him tell it."
The Roosters will now face the challenge of a short turnaround for Saturday's trip to Leichhardt, where they'll take on a Tigers side smarting from a 64-6 thumping by the Cowboys.
