Altona Roosters Men's First Grade Finals Preview

The Altona Roosters are quite honestly one of the biggest surprise packets this season.

A historic club around the Melbourne districts, the Roosters have always been one of the strongest performers. However, with only one win from their opening 10 matches, it seemed that finals footy was a distant dream for the Tricolours this year.

Just when it looked as though the Roosters would close up shop for 2022, the side hit form at just the right time, winning five games on the trot to rocket their way into fourth place on the Storm Premiership ladder.

The turning point came in their Rd 13 clash against the ladder leading Truganina Rabbitohs, with the Roosters coming in huge underdogs with a 2-12 record to their name.

The Roosters put on a show in front of their home fans with a convincing 40-18 win to kickstart their season into gear and two weeks later they backed it up with a narrow two-point victory over the Werribee Bears.

With some new arrivals bolstering their backline and Emani Eteuati scoring tries for fun on the wing, club president Jackson Brenchley said his side could be extremely proud of how far they’ve come this year and certainly thinks they can challenge for the title.

"At the start of the year we probably won only one game in the opening 10 rounds so it was hard and then we lost a few players so things were a real challenge," Brenchley said.

"Then we kind of turned a corner and we started winning a few games and getting some momentum and it's quite amazing how it can all turn around like that," he said.

"I think in the weekend's game [against Truganina] we did a few things really well and that gives us some confidence that we can match it with anyone in the competition."

The Roosters now find themselves in an elimination final and certainly look to be a side that could ruffle a few feathers.

"It's going to be a really interesting finals series as any of the four teams could win it," Brenchley said

When they face Werribee on Saturday, Brenchley said the result could go either way, with both sides showing glimpses of their best this year.

"They’ve probably got the opposite challenge that we've had this season in that they started really well and then have probably slowed down to the back end of the year but I'm sure they’ll be saving their best footy for this weekend," he said.

"It's always a tough game against them and there is a lot of history between the two clubs so there will be a little bit of feeling out there on the weekend for sure."