Roosters coach Trent Robinson backs Paul Momirovski in finals call-up

The Roosters have been smashed by injuries for their must-win semi-final in Melbourne and coach Trent Robinson has had to make some big selection calls.

Roosters head coach Trent Robinson has had to shuffle the decks. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Trent Robinson is about to make one of the biggest selection gambles of the year, but the Roosters coach is willing to roll the dice knowing that Paul Momirovski can come in from the cold to handle the biggest stage.

The 27-year-old is set to come in for just his third NRL game of the season having not played any grade of footy since he suffered a serious shoulder injury back in Round 9.

Momirovski required stabilisation surgery on his left shoulder and only returned to training in late July, but he’s been rushed back with the Roosters missing 80 per cent of their first-choice backline.

Joseph Manu (hamstring), Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii (concussion) and Billy Smith (jaw) have all been ruled out following the epic win over Cronulla, joining veteran winger Daniel Tupou (knee) on the sidelines.

Sidelined stars Daniel Tupou, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii and Joseph Manu. Picture: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

It means the Roosters will run out with a very inexperienced backline, but Robinson is confident in Momirovski who won the 2021 title with Penrith and was parachuted in for the 2018 preliminary final win over South Sydney when he replaced the suspended Latrell Mitchell in what was just his second NRL appearance.

“There’s always been confidence in ‘Mommers’, that’s why he’s back here,” Robinson said.

“He’s a grand final winner and a big game player for us.

“I would have liked more games for him with the shoulder injury he’s had, but I’m always confident in Mommers and what he’s capable of.

“With the shoulder surgery, he’s done a lot of running and opposition work against us. We’ve been pushing the strength and all that to the point that he’d be able to get selected.

“This was the first week that he got ticked off (by the medical staff). Two weeks ago they highlighted this week to get ready to play again, so it was timely.”

Momirovski would have likely been picked for North Sydney in their NSW Cup preliminary final had the Roosters not been going through such an injury crisis, but Robinson had no choice with Smith fracturing his jaw in the costly win last week.

That stemmed from a high tackle from Sharks forward Tom Hazelton who was placed on report but wasn’t penalised.

Paul Momirovski is a big-game player. Picture: Mark Nolan/Getty Images

Smith played the final 38 minutes with the injury and kicked his first career goal to tie things up, but Robinson suggested the tackle was worthy of a sin bin.

“It’s been inconsistent, I think we can say that. But we can’t do anything about it now,” he said.

“There was no intent from Tom on that tackle, but the consequence is pretty clear on what the result was.

“It was pretty clear at the time that he thought that there was something wrong with his jaw. It took him a minute out the back to sort that out, and then adrenaline and courage allowed him to keep going.”

The injured quartet have scored a combined 30 tries this season, but Robinson has full faith in Momirovski, Junior Pauga, Jaxson Paulo and Corey Allan to get the job done.

“A lot of people have been talking about who’s not there, so we’ve spent all week talking about who is there and their qualities and what they bring,” he said.

“They can bring their strengths which are sometimes in some areas better than the two Joeys.

“It’s not about what’s not there, it’s about what is there.”

They’ll need to be at their best against a Storm side also missing some strike power with Ryan Papenhuyzen fracturing his ankle, while Xavier Coates – who has scored two hat-tricks against the Roosters this year – is also out.

The season is over for the loser while the winner faces a daunting showdown with Penrith in the preliminary final, with the premiership heavyweights no strangers to each other at this time of year.

“We’ve played a lot of semi-final games and we’ve been toe-to-toe for a long time so there’s a respect there, but there’s also a hunger to attack each other,” said Robinson, whose team beat Melbourne in the 2018 decider.

“That’s why I think there are memorable games, and there’s no difference for this game.”