The Roosters have received a shock boost ahead of their sudden-death finals clash against Manly with star back-rower Victor Radley included on an extended bench just two weeks after he suffered a fracture to his left scapula.
There were fears at the time that Radley would miss the rest of the season, but the injury didn’t require surgery and the club has been impressed with his progress after suffering the injury in the round 26 loss to the Raiders.
Radley has been named in jersey No.22 and would likely replace Sitili Tupouniua on the right edge if he’s cleared to return, with Siua Wong the man who would probably come off the bench.
The Roosters also get enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves back from his three-match ban, with teammates calling on him to not lose his head in what could be his last game in the NRL if they lose.
“He brings that brutality that we definitely missed on the weekend against Penrith,” Roosters skipper James Tedesco said on Monday.
“I know he’s been firing at training and he’s ready to go. He’s testing us out on the other side, and I know he’s going to bring that to us.
“We just need to make sure that he doesn’t step over that line.”
The Roosters have also stuck with Sandon Smith for the game against Manly, with the young halfback keen to step up after he had a few poor moments in the loss to Penrith last week.
“It was a tough night for me. It wasn’t one of my best (performances) and I definitely would’ve wanted it to look a bit different,” he said.
“But that’s all right. I spoke to Robbo (coach Trent Robinson) and I’ll take some lessons from that and move on to the next game.”
They face a Manly side that is unchanged from the one that stormed home to beat the Bulldogs, with speedster Jason Saab still out with an ankle injury.
In the other game, Cronulla could get strike centre Jesse Ramien back from the ankle injury that ruled him out of last week’s loss to the Storm.
“I think the extra couple of days did it wonders,” he said.
“It feels a lot better than it did last week.
“It was pretty tough because it’s always tough to sit at home watching it and unable to be a part of it. It gave me a bit of motivation to get it right and do everything I could to get back for this weekend.”
Ramien has been named on an extended bench and will slot in at right centre if he’s cleared to play, with Siosifa Talakai set to drop back to the bench against a Cowboys side that has stuck with the same 17 that beat Newcastle.
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