Brandon Smith wouldn’t have trotted out on Friday night time if the Roosters have been taking part in anybody however the Rabbitohs, however he’s glad he did as a result of he obtained to witness one thing particular from a teammate who he says received them the sport.
The Roosters rake is aware of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves properly having spent many excursions with him in the identical room taking part in for New Zealand.
But he noticed a special facet of the veteran front-rower who returned from damage towards the previous foe and completed with extra metres than every other ahead after he and Smith got here on after 24 minutes and fully modified the sport.
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“He said ‘I’m going through these guys’ and everyone jumped on the back of that. Without Jared today we wouldn’t have won the game,” Smith mentioned after the 20-18 win.
“I’ve had the privilege of rooming with ‘Jazza’ every tour we’ve been on, so I know what he’s about and I know what he brings.
“But this game here was something new, his mentality toward controlled aggression, the way he spoke to the team out on the field when the scuffles were going on and how he stayed composed – I was quite proud of him, I know that’s something he’s been working on.
“We don’t want Jared playing one week on and three weeks off, we want him all the way through the season and I thought he took a big step towards that controlled aggression without being soft.”
Keeping a cool head is one thing Waerea-Hargreaves didn’t do in final yr’s fiery finals conflict, however whereas others misplaced the plot after a Joseph Manu excessive shot, it was really the massive man who stayed composed and stored his teammates in examine.
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“In that scuffle he grabbed a few of the boys and said ‘it’s all good, it’s all good, keep calm’ and he was telling us to control our emotions,” Smith mentioned.
“He spoke about discipline at the beginning of the game and I said ‘are these words coming out of your mouth?’ Outstanding.
“He didn’t look too old out there, he’s looking a lot younger than the other front-rowers but he’s got an ugly head, geez it’s battered and bruised.”
Smith was additionally feeling fairly battered and bruised after copping a whack from former Storm teammate Felise Kaufusi in spherical one, with the damage flaring up final week towards the Warriors when he was pressured off early.
It wasn’t the beginning he’d hoped for after making the massive transfer north, however he confirmed his class on Friday with a trademark check out of dummy-half in his greatest efficiency of the season.
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“The injury from my second game was probably related to that second incident. Bloody Felise, I hate him. I’ve been cheeky to him for seven years of my career and he finally got some payback,” he joked.
“It’d been quite a disappointing start to my career at the Roosters but today was a big step for me, just getting through a game.
“The body feels all right, the back’s still a bit sore, but just getting through a game and getting that confidence – I’m still building with this team, I still have a lot of improvement to go.
“If it wasn’t the Bunnies I probably wouldn’t have played, this was a game I wanted to be a part of. I took a record amount of anti-inflammatories to keep me out there, thank the Lord for Naprosyn.
“I did everything I could to get out there and we knew we had the week off and the physio said it would hurt but I couldn’t do any more damage. He gave me the green light to push through a little bit of pain.”
Smith has performed in two grand finals with the Storm, and he mentioned the ambiance on Friday night time was nearly as intense which is why he was so determined to participate in his first derby.
“Robbo yelled at me at the start of the week, so it must be a Rabbitohs game,” mentioned Smith, who copped a twig from his coach on Tuesday.
“I don’t really read the paper too often to be honest, so I didn’t really see anything during the week but it’s kind of an unwritten thing, an unspoken thing.
“I’ve come into the club and everyone is just a little bit more focused than usual, a little bit more antsy than usual.”
Source web site: www.foxsports.com.au
