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The Sydney Roosters are bracing for an early onslaught from arch-rivals South Sydney in Friday’s blockbuster derby at Allianz Stadium but plan to win the game by keeping their cool long after the fireworks have fizzled out.
The last-round showdown shapes as the Rabbitohs’ grand final, given they can’t make the play-offs but can potentially gain some satisfaction from sabotaging the Roosters’ quest to make the top eight.
The controversy surrounding Brandon Smith, who left the Roosters for Souths mid-season and is now facing police charges for allegedly trying to supply drugs to Roosters lock Victor Radley, adds further spice to what is traditionally an explosive encounter. There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Radley.
The key for the Roosters, according to hooker Connor Watson, will be to play the long game by absorbing whatever Souths throw at them in the opening exchanges and sticking to the task at hand.
“That external motivation, coming up against Souths, all that sort of stuff, we just know we’ve got to worry about ourselves, at the end of the day,” said Watson, who will be making his 100th appearance for the Roosters.
“There’ll be a lot of energy in the game, which is great, but we’ve played our best football when we’ve focused on ourselves and set the standard of what we’ve wanted to do from the start of the game and played our style of football.
Brandon Smith is set to play against his former Roosters teammates on Friday night, adding even more spice to the clash.Credit: Getty Images
“That energy, it’s going to be good, it’s great. It’s going to be a good crowd there.
“It’s a big occasion, coming up against them. Last game of the year, there’s lots of good stuff you can take out of it.
“You want to lean into that, but that energy is only there for the first 10 minutes, and then you’ve got to get back to your process, and the style of football that you want to be in.
“That’s where I say, use some of that external energy at the start of the game, but once the game gets 10 minutes in, it’s all about that internal motivation, and being that side we want to be, and playing that style of football that we want to play going into the finals.”
Connor Watson will play his 100th NRL game for the Roosters on Friday.Credit: Getty Images
After last week’s 40-10 hammering of Melbourne, their fourth win in five games, the Roosters are eighth on the competition ladder, but they can potentially be pipped for a finals berth if they lose to Souths and the ninth-placed Dolphins upset minor premiers Canberra.
Watson said it was exactly the type of test the Roosters needed heading into the play-offs.
“We’ve got to beat the good sides if we want to win the comp, which is what every team wants to do, especially when you get to the top eight,” he said. “For us, these challenges are really good, and it sets us up for a big finals campaign.”
Roosters winger Mark Nawaqanitawase – the NRL’s leading try-scorer after he crossed four times against Melbourne – is confident his teammates would not take a backward step when push comes to shove.
“I wouldn’t say match [them], I’d say we’ve got to go above them,” said Nawaqanitawase, who scored a try in his NRL debut against Souths in the corresponding game last year.
“We’ve got to keep what we did in the second half last week [which they won 40-0], and obviously improve the things we did wrong in the first half [when they trailed 10-0].
“Obviously it’s an important game for us, and obviously the rivalry is pretty big, so we’re going to have a game on our hands.
“If we just stick to our system and what we know we can do well, we’re going to hopefully come away with the win.”
Watson and Nawaqanitawase indicated there was no ill will towards Smith, who has played four games for Souths after a two-and-a-half season, 41-game stint with the Roosters.
Mark Nawaqanitawase scored on his NRL debut playing against Souths last year.Credit: Getty Images
“Obviously, coming up against an old teammate, you always get excited about that,” Watson said.
“I’ve left here before, left Newcastle, [so] coming up against your old team, I know how Brandon will be feeling, and I’m sure he’ll want to have a good game.
“But like I spoke about earlier, there’s a lot of external motivations this week. They only last for a little bit. That sort of energy can last for 10, 20 minutes in a game, and then it just comes back to what drives you internally.
“It’ll be exciting to go up against Brandon. Obviously, we want to win, but we’re more focused on ourselves than him.”
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Asked about Smith, Nawaqanitawase initially quipped: “What happened?”
He then indicated there were no hard feelings.
“It’ll be cool to come up against him,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t get to play with him, but I’m looking forward to seeing him again and versing him.”
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