Are the Roosters at a crossroads after their Anzac Day loss to St George Illawarra?

In the cutthroat world of the NRL, you're either premiership material or you're nowhere and after their 14-12 upset loss to the Dragons on Anzac Day, it's difficult to pinpoint exactly where the Roosters are on the rugby league map.

Seven weeks of a season is enough for the cream to start rising to the top because we've seen enough to know what a premiership contender looks like.

The Storm sure seem like one. So do Penrith, who are playing like they'll never lose again. Parramatta and Cronulla aren't quite there yet, but they do feel like they're building towards something greater and it's easy to see them taking the steps required to get there.

It's harder to get a read on the Roosters, who have yet to become the destroyer of worlds they were tipped to be in the pre-season. Sitting at 4-3 after seven rounds is no time to panic, and there are few more sound investments than backing Trent Robinson and the club's infrastructure to work things out.

But it would be reassuring to see some signs. A 20-minute patch of brilliance that blows a team away perhaps, or Luke Keary and Sam Walker linking together in such a way that sends a shiver down the spine when you imagine what it will be like once they've fully built their combination.

But this loss was a lot like their recent wins over the Warriors and Broncos. The best moments, like Joseph Manu's try off a Joseph Suaalii flick pass, were usually opportunistic rather than a triumph of fine attacking structures. The forwards were workmanlike rather than ferocious.

There are quality players all over the park for the Tricolours but they are playing a little within themselves, with a lack of certainty and purpose that belies their status as perennial contenders. We are used to seeing the