Although the Sydney Roosters will be without three key men this weekend, halfback Luke Keary is confident his side can continue their winning form as they venture to the nation's capital for what is expected to be a frosty afternoon.
With James Tedesco, Daniel Tupou and Lindsay Collins set to take the stage in the Origin arena once again, the Tricolours will face the Canberra Raiders on Sunday afternoon with youngster Joseph Suaalii also in Blues camp.
But the stand-in captain is excited to see centre Joseph Manu take the mantle at fullback, and was quick to praise the likes of Kevin Naiqama and the young contingent of front rowers for their recent form.
“He said after the game he’s back on the salads for the week,” Keary joked about Manu.
“But he enjoys his chance. He obviously loves playing at fullback and every time he’s played fullback for us he’s been the best player on the field for us. We all love seeing him play there and it’ll be fun again this week.
Keary: "We're Just Trying to Get Better Every Week"
“Kev did a really good job for us at the start of the year. He’s been playing well in reserve grade so he’ll be there or thereabouts at centre or wing.
“We’ve got three gone and Suaalii’s in camp. Teddy’s there every year, Toops has been gone for a lot of the time too.
“Lindsay – we’ve actually been blessed this year with a lot of front rowers in (Daniel) Suluka-Fifita and (Terrell) May, who has just come up.
“Nothing really changes for us.”
With the NRL regular season now officially halfway complete, the dynamic no.7 spoke of the side's growing confidence following a slow start to their campaign - highlighted by their dominant victory over the Sharks last Saturday night.
“Starting the way we did, we were a bit off the mark,” he said.
“The line in the sand was there after the Bulldogs lost at Accor Stadium, it feels like we’ve built our game really well against the Titans and Parra in Queensland.
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“We were outclassed by Penrith but I thought we improved again last week down at Shark Park.
“The first 40 minutes I was pretty impressed with that. I thought the three big middles – Siua (Taukeiaho), Jared (Waerea-Hargreaves) and Lindsay – really laid it down for us. It felt good. It felt like the way the Roosters play.
“We attacked really well and we defended our line for big periods of time too. It was good to have that feeling again – me and Teddy spoke about it after the game.
“We’ve felt it over the last month of footy and we’re starting to build it up.”
“We had a lot of combinations me and Sammy Walker, Sammy Verrills being out so we’ve had Drew (Hutchison) in there and a lot of those young forwards are getting time under their belt. Obviously Rads (Victor Radley) has been in and out again.
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“Just training together, we’ve had a consistent last couple of months where everyone’s been training during the week and we’ve been able to get some reps together.
“I feel like we’re getting better – there’s still a long way to go and this is going to be a really tough period during Origin.
“We’re just trying to get better every week. We know what’s in front of us.”
After a season out with the dreaded ACL tear, Keary spoke of his own confidence and the patience that has spurred him into recent form - providing seven try assists and forcing four dropouts in the last month.
“I feel like I’m getting confident each week,” he said.
“Obviously it probably took a little longer than I wanted to get back the confidence that I need to play where I want to, moving from six to seven to a new role and managing my body.
“I’m pretty happy with how I’m pulling up after games. I feel like I’m slowly getting back to my best so I’m trying to build my confidence each week.
“You do your work. It was a bit of a disrupted pre-season for myself. I had my ankle where I didn’t get to train too much.
We attacked really well and we defended our line for big periods of time too. It was good to have that feeling again – me and Teddy spoke about it after the game.
Luke Keary On the Roosters' recent form
“You come back, the team’s a little bit out of form, you’re a little bit out of form and you’re trying to come back from injury and pull all the pieces together.
“I think I said it at the start of the year; sometimes it can take a week, sometimes it can take a month, sometimes it can take a year.
“Hopefully we’re through that coming into this period.”
Faced with the winter chill of Canberra's tundra, the quick-witted playmaker was relieved to see his side kick-off during the afternoon.
“It’s a day game, you just look at the day and night,” he laughed.
“It’s not Saturday evening, as long as you’re playing in the sun it’s okay. It’s all smiles.
“It’s alright, I don’t mind it down there.”
