On the eve of the Sydney Roosters return to the SCG, Head Coach Trent Robinson has confirmed James Tedesco will be rested from the Round 20 clash, while Brandon Smith is primed to make his return.
In what will be a pivotal game for the Tricolours’ finals hopes, Robinson is confident the team will rise on Saturday evening, buoyed by the support of 20,000 Members for the first time in Club history.
Robinson: 'Moments Will Decide It'
Reflecting on Tedesco’s stand-out performance on Wednesday night, Robinson said the decision to sideline the Roosters’ Skipper following Origin III was made weeks in advance.
“It's been a big few months there for Ted, so it's been planned for quite a few weeks that he was going to rest this week,” Robinson said.
It was a decision a few weeks ago to give him that time off because it accumulates. He'll get a rest and then he'll come back and go hard again for the last seven rounds.
Trent Robinson On resting James Tedesco for Round 20
“It's always a combination of both but knowing which points to play them and which times to rest them can be important in your season.
“I sort of knew that Origin’s a big beast and I've done it quite a bit in the past at different times as well to Ted and other players, so it was time to give him a rest this week and throw Lindsay back out there.
“I thought both of them played really strong [on Wednesday]. I think Teddy started the game right with a couple of really good tackle breaks, their good combination on the inside and then Cody Walker really opened him up there on that left hand side, it was a really really strong game.
“I thought Lindsay was outstanding as well, he's setting a new tempo about how front rowers move in the game now.”
The Tricolours mentor happily welcomes back Smith to the line-up for Saturday’s match following his recovery from a fractured thumb sustained in Round 12.
“He's worked really hard, I think it's been reported, on his game and on his style that we want him to play,” Robinson said.
Expect him to be himself, to come on and add that physicality off the bench and enjoy playing footy.
Trent Robinson On Brandon Smith returning from a fractured thumb.
“He would have played last week if we had a game… he was pushing for the Manly game, which would have been very very early, but this was the right time to come back.”
In a massive week for the Club, highlighted by a record-breaking 20,000 Membership Milestone and SCG return, Robinson explained that the team is feeling the support heading into the back-end of the season.
“We've got hundreds of thousands of supporters and making them Members is really key for being in partnership with them," he said.
We really feel that 20,000 members.
Trent Robinson On the Club feeling the support of a record-breaking Membership base
"We did a video saying thank you to them as well and them saying thank you to us. It's important. We want to turn that 20 into 25 and 30, we want to keep going that way.
“Then to go to the SCG, which is a couple 100 metres away… it [Moore Park] has been our home for 115 years, so going a couple 100 metres ... it's still our home.
What Your Support Means To Us
As the squad prepares to face the Storm for the second time this season, Robinson knows securing the two competition points at home is vital ahead of back-to-back away games.
The three-time Premiership-winning Coach believes it’s up to the leaders and middle-men to seize the opportunities when they arise.
“Moments will decide it, good decision making in the middle,” he explained.
“You’ve got to put your stake in the ground in that area and then it'll come down to who's gonna take the moments on the back of that physicality.
“That's how our games have been played for a long period of time, so you need to set that in place and then you need to make really good decisions on the back of it.”
