Trent Robinson insists the Sydney Roosters made the right call moving on in-form Terrell May and Sitili Tupouniua as the coach keeps the faith amid a tough start to the NRL season.

Robinson on Thursday confirmed Hugo Savala will become the Roosters' fourth debutant of the season in the round-two clash against Penrith, which prop Lindsay Collins misses through illness.

Tapped on the shoulder by the Roosters in 2024, May and Tupouniua both excelled on club debut with their new sides in round one.

May ran for the most metres of any forward in Wests Tigers' tight loss to Newcastle before Tupouniua had two tries from the bench as Canterbury held off St George Illawarra.

The performances came on the same weekend the Roosters became the first team since 2009 to concede 50 points in round one, spanked 50-14 by Brisbane at home.

Pundits have tipped the perennial contenders for a downturn in form this year following the departures of Luke Keary, Joey Manu, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Jared Warea-Hargreaves.

But the Roosters stood by their call to voluntarily add May and Tupouniua to the exodus to free up room for younger players to become regular first-graders.

"Definitely," Robinson said.

"There's always going to be peoples' opinions on that and that's fine. But that's the choice we made and we're clear on where we're going."

Robinson was happy to see his former charges shining elsewhere.

"A lot of the time you still have contact with a lot of those players that leave," he said.

"You always want them to play well, to get the best out of them because you see what goes behind that player rather than just on the field."

Things won't get any easier for the Roosters after their loss to the Broncos, with Friday's opponent Penrith undefeated in their last 10 games against the Roosters.

The Roosters must face premiership contenders Brisbane and Penrith for a second time before their first bye in round 10.

But Robinson would not buy into claims the Roosters needed to expect a drop in results this season after losing more than 1000 games of experience over the summer.

"I don't like to project that, I don't think it's the right way to look at things," he said.

"You've got to be honest with where you're at right now but you don't project what the future's going to look like and say it's going to be difficult.

"We'll improve each month. I know that."

Robinson has already put his money where his mouth is by handing NRL debuts to Salesi Foketi, Rob Toia and Taylor Losalu after May and Tupouniua's exit.

Next to debut, local product Savala came through juniors as a half but could also have some time in the pack against the Panthers.

"He's gone from wing to front row in all of our training sessions, which has given him the capacity to play on the bench tomorrow night," Robinson said.

The 194cm-tall 22-year-old is unlikely to see time in the halves unless Sandon Smith or Chad Townsend goes down injured against the Panthers.

"I've loved training him, he's brought so much energy to the team," Robinson said.

Luckless centre Billy Smith will make his return from hip and ankle injuries via NSW Cup on Saturday.