Keary Confident in Turnaround
This time last year, the Red, White, and Blue sat in 10th position with a record of seven wins and nine losses. They managed to make an incredible run to the finals, winning their last eight games to finish in 6th.
Fast-forward 12 months and the Tricolours find themselves in a similar place – 12th on the ladder with seven wins and eight losses.
If history is anything to go by, the show is far from over.
Most importantly, the players know that despite a shaky opening few months to the campaign, they can turn the ship around as they have done so before.
“We were in a similar position last year… we turned it around,” five-eighth Luke Keary said.
“We’re united as a group, we’re strong as a team, so we’re going to keep working hard.”
Keary: 'We Can Turn This Around'
Keary is adamant that there is a collective optimism and desire for success amongst the playing group that will drive them back to their best.
“We’ll get through this,” he insisted.
“We have a strong belief.”
Alongside the talented squad, Keary places utmost faith in the expertise of the coaches and the winning culture of the Club to galvanise the team through the rough patches.
I believe in these players, I believe in the coaching staff, I believe in the Club.
Luke Keary
The fruits of dedication and hard work from everyone in the Club are what he believes will propel them back into the same winning form that pushed the Tricolours into the top eight last season.
“We’ll start to play the footy we know how to play,” he said with confidence.
For Keary, it’s a simple solution.
“Just go back, keep working harder, get the ball rolling.”
With a growing injury list, Easts have inducted multiple Club debutants including Sandon Smith and Junior Pauga in recent weeks, and another young star looks to be on the verge of debut with Siua Wong named on the interchange bench for their Round 18 clash against the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
A strong forward who has earned the praises of Keary, Wong could be in for a busy end to the season if players remain sidelined.
“Really good young player… he’s worked really hard in the pre-season, he’s been playing some really good footy too for the Roosters in NSW cup,” Keary said of impending debutant Wong.
Part of Easts’ extended casualty ward are Brandon Smith and Sam Walker, who Keary believes could come back and be a key factor in restoring some spark to the team’s attack.
“Hopefully those boys can come back in… they’re really good attacking players, they can add something for us.”
As for the players who are still healthy, Keary puts his hand up as the team’s star playmaker to involve them in the attack, particularly superstar Joseph Manu who stood up to propel his side back into last Sunday’s contest against the Raiders.
“I’ve had this discussion a few times over the years… we need to find ways to get [Manu] the ball in space… and he’ll come up with some more plays for us,” Keary said.
Evidently, Luke Keary and Daniel Tupou are on the same page when it comes to turning the season around, as Tupou spoke during the week about fighting through the adversities to achieve a high level of performance.
Tupou: 'There's a Lot of Belief in the Squad'
The veteran winger, who is currently just three tries shy of the all-time try-scoring record for the Roosters, has utmost faith in the depth of the Club and the 17 players who take the field each week.
“It’s really tough but we’ve got to keep marching forward… there’s a next man up mentality,” he explained.
With almost a third of Easts’ top 30 players currently sidelined, Tupou emphasises belief in themselves and each other as the Tricolours aim to traverse the challenges in front of them.
He says it is this belief that can drive the side to move forward and win games.
“There’s a lot of belief in the squad," he explained.
“If there’s no belief there then we’re sort of kidding ourselves.”
For now, Tupou is looking ahead to this week’s game against Manly, stressing its significance as they look to climb the ladder and string together some strong performances.
“It’s very important, we’ll take the lessons out of Sunday’s game and move forward for this clash."
“Keen to get stuck in to today and prepare the best that we can for Sunday.”
