NRL finals: Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson won’t let his players get lost in their hard road to the finals
It’s been a hard road to the finals for the Sydney Roosters, but that’s not something coach Trent Robinson wants any of his players to lean on for finals motivation.
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No one would buy the Sydney Roosters as an underdog, even coach Trent Robinson who isn’t interested in selling that message to his players, ever.
The storylines of all the injury hurdles Robinson and his team have had to overcome just to make the finals this season mean nothing to the coach.
The calibre of losses reads like a who’s who of players who would make a massive difference to his team’s chances of making it to week two of the finals.
Two skippers, in Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend, have retired, Brett Morris is gone too. Joey Manu is running water after having his season ended by Latrell Mitchell.
On the plus side, the tricolours get back key “link man” Victor Radley and powerhouse big man Jared Waerea-Hargreaves at just the right time for the must-win clash with the Titans.
On Friday, Robinson didn’t try to hide his excitement at finally getting to what he called “money time”, a period when the Roosters have cashed in more often than not.
But the task he is presenting to his players is as it has been each and every week. No smoke and mirrors or false motivations.
“We don’t dance like that. Get the best out of yourself, get the best out of your team, and perform to your best,” Robinson said is his coaching mantra.
“We don’t stick articles up on the wall to motivate us. If you need that, then you are into short-term stuff. There’s no discussions, no short-term pump ups, it’s just, ‘C’mon, how good can you be’?”
He said only the “mentally weak” teams would fall to underdog talk.
“It doesn’t play a part in getting the best out of our team,” he said,
“If an opposition is mentally weak enough to fall into that, then they will lose anyway.
“The underdog tag, at the Roosters – is anyone going to buy that inside our walls or outside our walls? So why try and grab on to it ?
Robinson declared the Roosters were a better team with Radley and held no fears for the aggression that cost him eight matches of suspension this season.
“I’m always confident in Rads and the way he goes about it. We know we are a better team with him,” he said.
“He’s a link man between many positions. He’s a front-rower and he’s halfback, he mixes those roles. He is quite rare in how he goes about playing the game.
“He doesn’t have an off switch … he’ll keep playing. His ability to hurt is high.”
Gun teenage playmaker Sam Walker was named on the bench but could yet appear in the starting side.
Robinson said his collaboration with Drew Hutchison and Lachlan Lam was “key” to toppling the Titans.
“I’ve named him on the bench. We’ll see on (Saturday) night,” he said.
“I’ve made a choice around having Drew, Lachie and Sam play and play their roles, and that will continue. The collective part of playing three of them in two positions is really key to the way we want to play.
“This is money time, it’s time to nail what you want to nail in these finals. This is what you play for.
“Our best game we have played this year, we need that to be (Saturday) night.”
Originally published as NRL finals: Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson won’t let his players get lost in their hard road to the finals
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