Inside the brutal Roosters training session that saved their season
First, the Roosters were bashed by Penrith. Then they bashed each other, before turning on Manly and saving their season.
Star forwards Spencer Leniu and Angus Crichton have lifted the lid on what they described as a brutal “no-holds-barred” week at Roosters HQ that coincided with the return of enforcers Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Victor Radley.
The pair’s comeback against the Sea Eagles heralded a serious physical response from the Roosters pack after being thoroughly dominated in a 30-10 loss to the Panthers.
Typically, NRL sides taper their training loads during the finals, but Trent Robinson instead dialled up the intensity during the week. The result was that Manly were overwhelmed from the first whistle on Saturday night, with Tolu Koula knocked out in the first tackle of the game and Jake Trbojevic in the second to a HIA he later passed.
“It was one of the hardest weeks we’d had, almost pre-season vibes,” Leniu said after securing a preliminary final trip to Melbourne.
“After that Penrith [qualifying final], all the boys came in and took their medicine and really ripped into each other. We flicked that switch.
Angus Crichton hits the bag at Roosters training.Credit: Roosters Digital
“It was literally [no holds barred]. We were really physical out there [against Manly], and that was a reflection of how we trained.
“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 turnaround, but we’ll rip in to each other again and hopefully rip in against the Storm on Friday.”
Crichton noted both the “mongrel and aggressive mindset” Waerea-Hargreaves and Radley added to their pack against Manly, though he admitted to a slight sense of apprehension initially when Robinson ramped up training during the week.
The enforcer: Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.Credit: NRL Imagery
“The boys were sore, looking at each other and saying, ‘What are we doing?’ a little bit,” Crichton said. “But we trained how we want to play. We knew we missed our mark against Penrith and had no other option but to make sure we didn’t miss it this week.”
Radley’s return three weeks after suffering a fractured scapula – the same injury Cooper Cronk played through in the 2018 grand final – capped a remarkable recovery few considered possible, even among Roosters teammates and coaching staff.
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“It’s unbelievable. He’s a mad unit,” Leniu said. “The whole week he [said], ‘Just chuck an injection in, numb it up and I’ll be right’.
“That’s what he was saying all week and I was like, maybe just chill, we’ll win this week and you come in next week.
“But it’s a credit to him. He’s just a hard person, hard-nosed. He makes me feel 10 feet tall, like Jared and all the other boys … No doubt [Waerea-Hargreaves] is definitely the guy that sets it. He starts the smoke and it just catches fire with everyone else. Our NSW Cup boys who are not playing, they were running over us and tackling hard as well.”
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