By Dan Walsh and Robert Dillon
Watching the camera trained on the coach’s box, you could’ve sworn Trent Robinson was up the road at Gosford Greyhounds, with his house on No.4 in the last.
The Roosters coach was instead riding home rookie prop Xavier Va’a – the 21-year-old man mountain who sparred with hard men like Paul Gallen, Justis Huni and Jai Opetaia in a previous sporting life – in Saturday’s thumping win over Cronulla.
The same American Samoa born front-rower who carried a bible into Gosford Stadium on Saturday night, which he read before and after scoring with his second touch in first grade in front of delirious family, friends, teammates and coach.
Va’a’s debut wasn’t even the story of the day, though.
The return of his younger brother, De La Salle, from open lung surgery as a result of an innocuous hit in a February trial game in NSW Cup last weekend takes that honour.
As far as yarns go, Hugo Savala’s inch-perfect kicks for Daniel Tupou’s tries weren’t bad either – a byproduct of his teenage dabbling with AFL, which saw him coached by Swans legend Nick Davis both then and now given he’s the Roosters No.7 and Davis his kicking coach.
Roosters debutants Xavier Va’a (left) and Benaiah Ioelu in the sheds at Gosford.Credit: Roosters Digital
Pictures of Va’a and fellow debutant Benaiah Ioelu covered in so many homemade candy leis they’d struggle to turn without toppling over were worth more than any of these words.
As always, the Roosters have eyes on them – even moreso when bookmakers, pundits and punters have already written them off. Such is life as the game’s glamour club.
As always, wheeling and dealing at Moore Park has been a fascinating narrative this season. Brandon Smith’s exit. Dom Young’s on-again, off-again departure. Once again, why exactly did they let Terrell May go?
The spectre of Daly Cherry-Evans’ potential arrival which, given the rising form of Savala and diminutive five-eighth Sandon Smith, has plenty asking if the Roosters really do need the Manly and Maroons skipper.
Hugo Savala with his own personal fan club after his NRL debut earlier this year.Credit: NRL Imagery
Meanwhile, Robinson has blooded six rookies in 11 games this year. The club’s dramatic generational shift comes after $4 million worth of talent and more than 900 games of experience walked out the door last season.
A season-opening 50-14 thrashing from Brisbane, in which Rob Toia, Salesi Foketi and Taylor Losalu all played NRL for the first time, was followed by an upset win over defending premiers Penrith when the Roosters were the rankest of $11 outsiders.
Losalu, who was earning $20,000 a year on a NSW Cup contract at the time, was back pouring concrete 12 hours after one of the biggest upsets of the NRL era.
Already, the Roosters’ 5-6 campaign has delivered similar boilovers against the Broncos and Sharks and a slew of eclectic origin stories among their next generation.
Blake Steep with his family and friends after his NRL debut in 2024.
Like Savala, the 193cm halfback, local junior and part-time Randwick bagman for his dad, bookmaker Scott Savala.
Impressive young lock Blake Steep told the story back in February of how he saved his own old man from drowning when he suffered a heart attack underwater while spearfishing.
Toia, the prodigious centre who has pushed through two ACL ruptures, back stress fractures and a broken jaw to be making his Queensland Origin debut after just 10 NRL games.
When Laurie Daley asked Roosters and NSW assistant Matt King for some intel on Toia last week, King told him he would already be a Maroons rep if it hadn’t been for three straight years on the sidelines.
Mark Nawaqanitawase’s stunning try against Canterbury.Credit: NRL.com
From a reporter’s perspective, Robinson has always been at his most expansive when talking about a young player’s progress and rugby league’s various learning curves.
But we can’t recall one of the game’s most measured and considered coaches flying out of his seat to celebrate a try like Va’a’s against Cronulla.
Skipper James Tedesco and vice-captain Victor Radley are playing with the same enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Mark Nawaqanitawase’s remarkable rugby league learning curve – thrills, spills, tries of the decade and all – already makes him a player worth watching each week on his own.
Reinvigorated is the kind of word that belongs in a shampoo ad before a rugby league story, but it’s difficult to go too far past it with the Roosters. Even with each stirring upset followed by a loss as a youthful side comes to terms with the weekly demands of the NRL.
The club has been spruiking the virtues of its Roosters Academy for some time, which was inspired by a 2021 visit to Barcelona FC’s famed La Masia nursery.
The investment by Nick Politis and Roosters directors is starting to pay serious dividends. Siua Wong, Steep, the Va’a brothers, Ioelu, Foketi and Toia are just some of the Academy’s first-grade graduates.
Halfback Toby Rodwell, back-rower Ethan Roberts and hooker Tyler Moriarty will follow soon enough.
The long-running move for Cherry-Evans remains a defining narrative for the Roosters. For both the potential of a Cooper Cronk-esque swansong, and impact upon the futures of Savala and Smith.
Meantime though, there’s another story or two to be told as well.
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