Gus says the Roosters ‘have run away from the fight’. But will it save their season?

History, and the bookmakers, say the Sam Walker-less Roosters have now shot down their already nosediving premiership hopes.

Phil Gould says “they have virtually run away from the fight” by resting a raft of stars in the final-round clash against South Sydney on Friday night. But he doesn’t blame them, either.

In 72 years – since the start of the compulsory grand finals in 1954 – no team has won a title after finishing their regular season with three straight losses.

Just three weeks ago, Trent Robinson and his side were premiership favourites after downing Penrith in a 12-6 epic that put The Odyssey in the shade.

Now, the coach is resting roughly $5 million worth of talent and more than 1000 games worth of experience across nine first-grade regulars. And when asked on Friday, he said he was a willing proponent of the latest brainwave out of NRL HQ – a wildcard round – as a solution to mass restings in the final round.

The bookies have the Chooks nailed on for that third consecutive loss as $7 outsiders against their old enemies at Allianz Stadium.

Gould had them waving the white flag, given a top-four finish is guaranteed whether they win, lose, turn up or stay at home.

“They’ve virtually run away from the fight in the week leading into the finals,” Gould said on his Six Tackles with Gus podcast this week.

“Because the game doesn’t mean anything, they’re happy to push that aside and get ready for the finals the following week. I can’t say I blame them.”

Robinson, as he almost always does, had an answer and a view on most things.

In sitting down a small galaxy of stars led by skipper James Tedesco and his new starting halves Daly Cherry-Evans and Hugo Savala, had he taken the shine from what is traditionally the most anticipated club game of the season? Or short-changed those fans who had parted with their hard-earned to watch their favourite players?

“We’ve got 17 Roosters going out there,” Robinson said. “We’re really proud of the players that we’ve got. Just because somebody doesn’t know them, they’ve been in our system for a long time.

“We really value this game and I think we need to prove that tomorrow night ... I know what’s right for the Roosters and I love this game, so after that everybody else can make their opinion up on what’s right or wrong.”

Robinson admitted he had been tempted to give Cherry-Evans and Savala an extra 80 minutes of game time together at the scrumbase.