They enter the 2025 NRL finals series one of the in-form teams despite sitting in eighth place and their recent 40-10 win over Melbourne suggests they could even go all the way.

But not everyone is convinced the Roosters are genuine premiership dark horses.

News Corp reporter David Riccio and former Roosters five-eighth Braith Anasta were involved in a fiery exchange on NRL 360, with the pair disagreeing on the Roosters’ performance this season.

Riccio pointed out the Roosters have five Origin players on their roster and felt their finish in eighth spot was underwhelming.

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He also believes the Roosters should be regarded as heavy favourites in their elimination final clash against the Sharks on Saturday night.

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“Any suggestion that this is one of the best seasons ever by the Roosters in scraping in eighth because Manly and the Dolphins dropped games,” Riccio said on Wednesday night.

“With that roster of five Origin players.

“That is an elite roster.

“The Roosters should be $1.20 against Cronulla.”

But Anasta strongly disagreed with Riccio, pointing to the development of some of the lesser known players along with the form of the team’s already established stars.

“It’s a good roster because they’ve produced that roster,” Anasta said.

“It wasn’t a good roster at Round 7 this year, Round 8 this year.

“They weren’t the players they are now so the roster’s stronger now because of the way they’ve played and been coached.

“(Robert) Toia, Naufahu Whyte, (Hugo) Savala (were) all unknowns (at the start of the season).”

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In response to that, Riccio named some of the Roosters’ big names including Lindsay Collins, Spencer Leniu, James Tedesco, Angus Crichton and Victor Radley. But the mention of Radley’s name caught Anasta’s attention, with the former Rooster calling it a “ridiculous argument”.

Anasta went on to add that eighth place was an “amazing finish” given the Roosters’ added injury dramas, having lost Sam Walker for a good chunk of the season as he recovered from a torn ACL.

Riccio then asked Anasta if the Roosters should have had a better season.

“No one gave them a chance, people put a line through them, they had no chance,” Anasta said.

“You can’t tell me that they’ve underachieved this year.”