Sydney Roosters grand final love-in, Mark Carroll’s fears for Sam Burgess
Before they faced Canberra in the NRL grand final, the Sydney Roosters faced each other and told their teammates exactly what they thought of them. PLUS, Spudd’s fears for Burgess.
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Inside the confines of their Rushcutters Bay hotel, Roosters players had the final say in their grand final preparation.
Breaking from tradition in getting a guest speaker or a former great to hand out the grand-final jerseys, the Roosters left it to the players to deliver a final message.
They were given one simple task: tell one of your teammates why you love playing with them and they will return the favour.
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Skipper Boyd Cordner and Luke Keary spoke about each other, so too did hookers Jake Friend and Sam Verrills. Veteran winger Brett Morris had his say about Joey Manu.
It was the final act of their long journey together before running on to the field.
“It was a nice little touch,” Friend said. “This group is pretty tight. It was something pretty cool to do.
“You don’t often do that sort of stuff. It was a little bit different. It was a small part on our journey but it was a little point of difference.
“Sammy has been great all year, so it was pretty easy to find words to pump him up.”
Keary told Cordner how much he adored him after their three years playing together.
“I told him I loved him,” Keary said. “He is the leader of our club, state and country. I wouldn’t trade him for anyone in the world.
“We’re not a highly emotional group. It was emotional for some boys because we let each other know what we mean to each other.”
Manu became emotional when he heard Morris speak about him.
“He told me to back myself,” he said. “I wanted to tell him how cool it had been playing alongside him. All the boys spoke about the pride and love of standing next to someone.”
MA’AFU’S TEARS OF PRIDE
WHEN you have a name such as George David Campese Ma’afu, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have rugby union running through your blood.
Ma’afu captured the hearts of rugby fans when he broke down in tears during the Fiji national anthem before their World Cup opener against Australia.
Now his son has replicated his father — being overtaken with emotion after the Fijians bowed out of the tournament on Wednesday night with a brave 29-17 loss to heavyweights Wales.
Born in Sydney at the end of the Wallabies’ famous 1984 grand slam tour of Britain and Ireland, Campese Ma’afu was named after the legendary goosestepping Australian winger.
GI LAPS UP GF GOODBYE
IT was good to see Greg Inglis get the tribute he deserved as one of the retiring players on grand final day.
One of the game’s greats didn’t get a fitting send-off after retiring just two games into the season. However, Inglis was there with a smile on his face as he did the lap of honour with his children.
“I just knew it was time,” he said. “It was great to come here in front of a packed stadium and say goodbye.
“Life has been good. I’m back at Souths with a coaching role. I’m working with the juniors and I’ll be working closely with Sutto (John Sutton) when he comes back from holidays.”
The retirees had a few days of recreation, including hitting the races on Saturday. In no real surprise, James Maloney was considered best on ground, while Robbie Farah kept pace.
MURRAY MEETS MAL
CAMERON Murray is not only in line to make his Test debut, the star Souths lock will get to meet his national coach Mal Meninga for the first time.
The pair has crossed paths briefly but Murray said he had not spoken properly with his new Kangaroos coach.
“I shook his hands a few times but I’ve never had a proper introduction or a conversation with him,” Murray said.
“I’m really excited to be working with Mal from his personal accolades and from a team point of view.
“He is one of the best to ever play and now he has switched successfully to coaching.”
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SPUDD’S WORRY FOR SOUTHS SUPERSTAR
RUGBY league great Mark Carroll has described Sam Burgess’ shoulder as a complete mess as concerns grow about the South Sydney star’s playing future.
There’s genuine fears Burgess’ retirement from could be fast-tracked after he was ruled out of Great Britain’s end of season tour.
“I actually had a beer with Sammy last week, and mate, his shoulder is a mess,” Carroll told Macquarie Sports Radio. “He can only raise that left shoulder to a 45 degree angle.
“He’s got arthritis in that shoulder and it’s pretty hard playing with one arm. He’s a massive piece of the jigsaw puzzle at the Rabbits but it’s very hard playing injured.”
“I don’t know what you can do. Do you go to the (US) and try something (medically) amazing? He’s in a really serious position. His movement is horrible.”
FAMOUS FACES HELP CALM “LOST” RYAN
POOR Ryan James was left embarrassed after fumbling his words during his welcome to country address before the NRL grand final kicked off on Sunday night.
While he and the crowd took it in good humour, the Gold Coast Titans prop was a bit rattled after the on-stage fumble in front of 82,000-plus fans at ANZ.
His nerves were quelled somewhat when he was invited into the VIP section to meet Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who had a few nice things to say.
James also received a tip from actor Bryan Brown, who told him he stuffs up his lines all the time.
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WACA ON FEELING THE HEAT
It used to be Dennis Lillee setting the WACA on fire, but now it’s just a faulty old air conditioner.
Fire trucks raced to the Perth ground on Thursday during the first session on day one of the opening Sheffield Shield clash between Western Australia and Tasmania, after a fire broke out at the back of the players’ pavilion.
Despite the contained location of the fire, play was called off three minutes before lunch was scheduled for safety reasons.
A short time later fire services had put out the blaze in the faulty air conditioning unit and players were allowed back into the pavilion to eat.
Photos showed WACA umpire manager Daniel Gibbons and Cricket Australia match referee manager Matthew Hall sitting out the back of the stands with officers attached to respiratory equipment.
It was good to see Sheffield Shield cricket had caught fire again — although not in the way intended.