PLAYMAKER Braith Anasta was more direct post-match than his team had been during the game against Canberra, when he said the Roosters had played "dumb" and were lacking confidence.

"We prepared well during the week and felt pretty good early in the game," Anasta said. "But we ended up playing dumb. I know Canberra are underrated by some people, but we didn't underestimate them. We knew we were in for a game, but they were the team that played smart.

"They're a force."

The Roosters went to Batemans Bay for a training camp during the week. During their stay they had an honesty session, to discuss where they stood at this stage of the season - particularly after the previous weekend's shock home loss to the injury-weakened Gold Coast, when they led 28-16 at half-time but failed to score in the second half and lost by four points.

"We talked about a few things," coach Brad Fittler said. "We prepared hard for this match. We knew it was going to be tough. Their [Canberra's] last five games had been excellent. I think everyone in our team had a crack, but we just didn't do as well as they did. They were really hungry and now we've got to find that little bit extra. The result doesn't really matter.

"I think what it means is that we did a good job early in the year and that put us in a position where we could afford to lose a couple, if it turned out that way."

It wasn't as if the Roosters didn't get into scoring position often enough to give themselves a chance to win.

But, when they were in the opposition's 20m area, they too often ran one-out through their forwards, and the Raiders, who were in the mood to desperately defend their line, ate that up. The Roosters didn't move the ball wide often enough when they were within close range.

They couldn't come up with their usual tries off kicks, either. On one occasion, the ball slipped out of Anasta's grasp on the last tackle and by the time he had regathered it the defence had pounced, trapping him for a handover.

It was that sort of day for the Roosters.

"We went the wrong way a few times and when that happened it was like we had no Plan B," captain Craig Fitzgibbon said.

Anasta added: "We didn't train to do the one-out running, but that's what we ended up doing a fair bit. We trained for a few set plays that we normally have, but we didn't get them on. We didn't get to where we wanted to go on the field. We got a bit confused and went away from our game plan.

"Our execution wasn't good and our confidence is a bit low.

"It's probably the lowest it has been all year, but a couple of losses in a row can do that to you. We've got to make sure we get ourselves straight back up now, because we've got a big game against Manly next Sunday."