By Dan Walsh
A pair of Roosters legends helped Victor Radley return early from what he feared was a season-ending shoulder injury, with all the toughness and madness one of the NRL’s heaviest hitters brings.
But it’s his football brain teammates and Trent Robinson might just treasure most ahead of Friday’s preliminary final jaunt against Melbourne.
Radley spoke on Sunday about the need “to be violent” to beat the Storm and famed enforcer Nelson Asofa-Solomona on their own patch, with the Roosters boasting just one win from their last 11 clashes.
On Monday he revealed club staffers Anthony Minichiello and Mitch Aubusson – with 608 NRL games and five premierships between them – had guided his recovery from a fractured scapula with fish oil and sound advice.
Before going down against the Raiders and thinking his shoulder “must have subluxed or dislocated”, Radley had switched to right-edge back-row and been one of the Roosters best this season.
He returned against Manly at lock and will play in the middle against Melbourne given Connor Watson has moved to dummy-half with Brandon Smith out.
Tough Chook: Roosters enforcer Victor Radley.Credit: Steven Siewert
Radley’s return gives the Roosters footballing smarts Robinson mentions in the same breath as Cooper Cronk. All the more so given Radley has managed to temper the aggression that had spilled over into suspensions (12 weeks between 2021 and 2023) and sin-bins (10 since 2021).
“A lot of people see that brutality and physicality that he brings, and he flirts with that line where he’s paid his price for getting it wrong,” Watson explained. “But you don’t see how detailed and smart the guy is, especially with the footy.
“So much of our football comes through him. For me when I came back [to the Roosters in 2022] he had grown so much, it was like, ‘Wow, he really knows his stuff’. To have a guy like that back in the middle holding it down, it’s awesome.”
Both Robinson and Watson have seen a slight tempering in Radley’s famed aggression since his shift to the edge in defence – and his only time on the sidelines this year has been due to injury.
Victor Radley being sent on his way, a less familiar sight in 2024.Credit: Getty
His prowess out wide has in turn drawn comparisons in 2024 to the playing style of former captain Boyd Cordner.
“When you’ve got to play 80 minutes in the back row, there’s a decision-making capacity that you have to have,” Robinson said earlier this year. “And Rads’ balance is between the hardness, but also, the need to make top-end decisions constantly.
“He’s one of the smartest and toughest players that I’ve coached. So putting the mix together, that’s why the view of him playing like Boyd is coming out more and more.”
Skipper James Tedesco added that Radley’s return to the middle also helps bring him into the game from fullback because “supporting through the middle is my best footy, so having Connor [at hooker] with his extra speed is beneficial for me.”
Radley joked on Monday that his recovery consists of “heaps of vitamins and Guinness, I’ve been told – 10 pints” and that Minichiello and Aubusson proved influential sounding boards.
Not so Cronk, who famously played through his own scapula fracture in the 2018 grand final, because “you can’t even compare to Cooper’s [injury] because Cooper broke his shoulder blade in half,” Radley said.
“[Minichiello] sent me some supplements and some natural stuff that he’s used in the past when he had those back injuries.
“They helped get his career back on the right path when he was a bit older.
“I spoke to ‘Aubo’ at the start of the week and asked if I was being selfish for wanting to play or selfish for wanting to get myself right.
“He just said, ‘If you think you’re all right to play then you do everything you can. If you get ruled out then you get ruled out’.
“He reassured me that that was the right thing to do.”
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