With their season on the line, Sydney Roosters have a plan to deal with Brandon Smith saga and South Sydney Rabbitohs
“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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