His side might have outclassed the Brisbane Broncos 32-16 on Thursday night, but Roosters coach Trent Robinson wouldn't be drawn into hypotheticals over how his team might have performed had they made this year's final series.
With five games remaining in 2016, the Tricolours are out of finals contention, but even if they were vying for a top-eight finish, Robinson is of the firm belief that they wouldn't be a genuine premiership threat.
"I feel like the footy's there, but then there's still some stuff that means the reason why we're not in the eight, and the reason that even if we were, we probably wouldn't have contended this year," he said.
"It's just some details that you see in teams that we're doing at the moment.
"I've come to terms with why we're in the place that we're in."
Despite watching his side snap a six-game losing streak, Robinson said Thursday night's performance wasn't as good as some of their more recent results.
The 2013 premiership-winning coach felt the 16-point win was the end product of something they'd been building towards over a four-week stretch that has seen them challenge the Sharks, Bulldogs and to a lesser extent, the Storm.
"I think you could see that we've been working hard in games and not really finishing them off," Robinson said.
"I felt that was a really good first half from us to get 18-6 up, and there were some nice moments in the second half – good and bad – but it was a good reward for a lot of effort from the guys.
"We probably played better in the last couple of games than what we did tonight, especially in that second half.
"We've been playing some good footy, but we've been playing [teams] one and two, but even tonight we just lacked some of that little bit of quality or some little things that you want."
Roosters skipper Jake Friend was pleased with his side's all-round effort on Thursday night, crediting their first 40 minutes for the win.
It was the third time in as many weeks against top-eight sides that the Roosters had gotten on the board first, but unlike the past fortnight, the Tricolours went on with the job against the Broncos, particularly in defence.
The visitors enjoyed 53 per cent of possession in the first half yet were only able to come up with one try courtesy of a lucky deflection.
"I think each week we've had periods that we've shown that sort of footy, and that first half I think it all came together," Friend said.
"The boys were powerful through the middle and our 'D' was really good. We set the game up in the first 40 minutes.
"Our edge 'D' was really good and the scramble 'D' [was great]. There were a lot of offloads and they throw some footy at you, but I think the boys were working hard for each other and it was pleasing to keep them to six for the first half."
