With their season on the line, all it took was one “violent” training session to turn things around for the Sydney Roosters.
After being blown off the park by Penrith, the squad recognised they needed to fix their physicality if they were any chance of going deep into the finals series.
The return of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Victor Radley certainly helped, but it was the mentality at training in the lead-up that sparked a 40-16 win over Manly.
“I think Jared came in fresh and said, ‘No, no, no, we’re not mucking around here, we’re smashing each other’,” Radley told Triple M on Sunday.
Victor Radley during the win over Manly. Getty
“You’ve got to be violent, physical. You win finals games by your effort and physicality.”
It was a dominant display from the Chooks in front of 40,000 fans on Saturday night, with their engine room laying the platform for some James Tedesco brilliance.
Bench enforcer Spencer Leniu revealed the mid-week session was led by Waerea-Hargreaves, who is playing his last season in the NRL and was returning from another suspension layoff in the semi final against the Sea Eagles.
Jared Waera-Hargreaves celebrates after the win over Manly. Getty
“It was one of the hardest weeks we’d had, almost pre-season vibes,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald following the game.
“After that Penrith [qualifying final], all the boys came in and took their medicine and really ripped into each other. We flicked that switch.
“It is always tough love there. We got a reality check last week. We just needed to step it up a notch. That is what we did at training, led by Jared coming back this week.
“It was literally (no holds barred). We were really physical out there (against Manly), and that was a reflection of how we trained.
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“That’s just how we have to prepare for these games. Finals games are win at all costs. If that means we have to bang each other at training, then we have to bang each other at training. That training intensity won’t be any different this week.
“It’s a short turn around, but we’ll rip in to each other again and hopefully rip in against the Storm on Friday.”
The side will travel down to Melbourne to battle the minor premiers for a spot in the decider on Sunday, October 6.
