Jared Waerea-Hargreaves says the fear of becoming victims to the ‘Baby Broncos’ is all the motivation the Sydney Roosters need on Sunday.
The Roosters’ hardman is well aware of the history surrounding the ‘Baby Broncos’ moniker given to depleted Brisbane sides during the State of Origin period – and some of the upsets they’ve pulled over the years.
Most famously in 2002, Brisbane pulled off a stunning upset over the Wests Tigers with a team – coached by now-Melbourne mentor Craig Bellamy, who took the reigns while Wayne Bennett was in camp with Queensland, and missing 16 regular first graders.
Things aren’t as grim this year but they are still missing five stars to Queensland – skipper Sam Thaiday, strike centre Justin Hodges and forwards Petero Civoniceva, Matt Gillett and Ben Hannant, while lock Corey Parker is in camp as 18th man.
It gives the Roosters, who have only lost halfback Mitchell Pearce to NSW duty, a serious leg up.
When asked if avoiding the humiliation of a loss to the ‘Baby Broncos’ was motivation, Waerea-Hargreaves said: “Yes, definitely. They’ve definitely got a good squad and they’ll be coming down here for a win.
“We’ve got to be on our A game.
“… Every week is pretty tough. If a team has two, three, four, five players out, they’ve always got good young players coming through.
“Everyone says they’re the Baby Broncos, but they’ve got a good team.”
The Roosters are advantaged by the fact that several of their biggest stars, including Waerea-Hargreaves, hail from New Zealand and are out of contention for State of Origin.
“With only having one player out, Pearcey, it helps us,” the 23-year-old prop said.
“He’s a pretty key player to us and we’ve got Daniel Mortimer backing up.”
The Roosters will welcome another Kiwi into the fold in the Allianz Stadium clash, with sizable winger Adam Henry making his debut for the club.
Henry joined the tri-colours from the Warriors in the off-season and is expected to bring some serious size to the outside backs – but has also been known to fill in in the halves, prompting Waerea-Hargreaves to predict he has a big future in the NRL.
“He’s got some talent,” he said.
“He is big and he’s got some skills. Hopefully, he can show it on Sunday.”