Roosters coach Trent Robinson does not expect his players to be “robots” but is confident they will keep their emotions in check during the blockbuster last-round derby against South Sydney at Allianz Stadium on Friday.
The Roosters need a win to guarantee a finals berth, while Souths would like nothing more than to end a disappointing season by sabotaging the plans of their near neighbours.
The two teams have had some explosive confrontations in recent seasons, and Robinson said the big crowd and high stakes would bring out the best in his players.
But he denied needing to address his troops to warn them about maintaining their discipline in the heat of the battle.
“I haven’t, [but] sometimes you do,” Robinson said. “Sometimes you have to talk to them about that. But you get a feel of your team early in the week about their clear vision on what’s important this week.
“And the way that we’ve trained, the discussions that we’ve had, we care a lot about the way that we’re playing our footy at the moment, and that’s been our focus … Pure focus on the team and our style of play, and how we want to play is more important than short-term emotion around how I feel.
“It’s a bit bigger than that. And so, yeah, we need to go and prove that.”
Robinson added that “we’re not robots when we go out there”, but his players understand the priority is to bank two vital competition points.
“We’ve got to stay focused, make sure we nail the emotion around it and also nail the execution of our play,” he said.
Robinson added that “footy hate is different to real hate”, but acknowledged that there has been no love lost between the two foundation clubs since 1908.
“That’s the beauty of our rivalry,” he said. “There is hate and there’s an anger that goes with it … that just elevates the sport to new heights.”
The recent drama surrounding South Sydney mid-season recruit Brandon Smith will only add to the intrigue of Friday night’s showdown.
Smith joined the Rabbitohs after the Roosters granted him a mid-season release and is now facing police charges for allegedly trying to supply drugs to Roosters forward Victor Radley in June. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Radley.
Asked if Smith’s presence would provide the Roosters with any extra motivation, Robinson replied: “No, none at all.”
He said any discussion about Smith had been how to minimise his impact.
“We know his strengths,” he said. “And so it’s been pure analysis on his game.”
Robinson confirmed halfback Sam Walker would return from a concussion lay-off, having sat out last week’s 40-10 hammering of Melbourne.
“He’s done a bit of work on a tackle position and all of that,” Robinson said.
“That’s in his position, the way the modern game’s getting played, he’s dealing with sometimes the biggest players on the field.
“They’re in the back row now, with the way the six again’s gone … so he just had a chance to get back into that this week.
“And he’s also a proud guy. He doesn’t want that [concussion] to happen again.”
After winning four of their past five games to stay in the finals race, Robinson said “the reward is pretty clear for us” if they can beat Souths.
A Roosters loss would leave the door open for the ninth-placed Dolphins to leapfrog them into the top eight if they beat a depleted Canberra on Sunday.
“We feel ready for tomorrow night and we feel ready for what’s next as well … we’re not limiting ourselves even to what’s next,” Robinson said.
“So Friday night we want to earn the right to put a bit of a stamp on our season.”
