The Roosters may be resigned to 15th spot on the NRL Telstra Premiership ladder, but a four-day camp in Canberra has put everything into perspective for the struggling club according to veteran prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The Roosters visited the Australian War Memorial which Waerea-Hargreaves said helped reaffirm how fortunate he and his teammates were. The visit meant even more so to the 27-year-old with his father spending plenty of time in the past aiding the US military and United Nations in war zones across the globe.
"We paid our respects at the war memorial. It was eerie especially with my background with my father," Waerea-Hargreaves said.
"To see what those diggers sacrificed for the life we live today was pretty impressive. It was something we reflected on while we were down there."
The Roosters trained out of the Australian Institute of Sport while in Canberra and Waerea-Hargreaves said it was an excellent opportunity for the club to bond before the final eight games of the season.
Coach Trent Robinson apparently had no specific objectives in regards to the trip, but Waerea-Hargreaves believes the break away from Sydney would help the team lift against the might of the table-topping Sharks on Monday night.
"The camp gave us a chance to reflect on the start of the season, reflect on where we are now and where we want to be in eight weeks," Waerea-Hargreaves said.
"That all comes down to talking and communicating about what we want to achieve so hopefully we can go out there against the Sharks and put it into action."
Only the Knights have had a worse season than the Tricolours' in 2016 but skipper Jake Friend denied the camp to face any hard truths after only winning three of their 16 games this season.
"We haven't shied away from our form and where we are in the competition," Friend said.
"There were productive chats but there wasn't any home truths. We have dealt with them along the way so there wasn't a big influx of those negative things."
In his first full season as the lone skipper of the Roosters, Friend said it was vital he and his teammates learned their lessons from a poor campaign. "It's a team sport but when you're losing heaps you're never really worried about your individual performance. It's all about the team," Friend said.
"Personally it's been tough, you want to win and you want to be successful but I guess for me it's about growing and learning from this.
"If I'm not doing that then I'm not getting what I should be getting out of this period."
This article first appeared on NRL.COM
