The Sydney Roosters will enter the final fortnight of the regular season with the healthiest roster in the NRL following the possible early return of Jared Waerea-Hargreaves from injury.
Waerea-Hargreaves was slated to miss up to four weeks but is likely to face Brisbane on Saturday should he pull up healthy from Friday’s captain’s run.
Roosters coach Trent Robinson confirmed his star prop has trained for most of the week and is a chance of being welcomed back into the 17 alongside Luke Keary (knee)
“It depends on how he pulls up from this session today. That’s the big thing. Obviously needles into the ribs will need to be had, I’d say,” Robinson said of Waerea-Hargreaves on Friday.
“(But) the big man’s ready and firing.”
Keary is also a certainty to play after a knee injury sidelined him for the past three matches, the last of which ended in a shock loss to Canberra.
“Luke’s good. He looks strong and fast, which is what we want,” Robinson said.
“We’ve been fairly strong without him in the initial games … obviously the last couple of games we would’ve liked to have executed one or two more (plays). Luke’s a key cog in our system.
“We look forward to having him back.”
The return of both players is a huge boost for a Roosters side that are currently second but equal on points with ladder leaders Melbourne and third-placed South Sydney.
In a sign of the closeness of the competition, sixth-placed Cronulla are just two points back.
But Robinson suggested there is a gap between some of the genuine premiership contenders and other sides who are a class below.
“It’s funny. It’s close on the ladder, and that’s good for our competition and the fans,” he said.
“My view is obviously a little bit different about the way we view the closeness and the teams. Teams might be on the same points, but you might have a different view of them.”
Robinson said Brisbane – who he has a perfect five wins from five games record against at Allianz Stadium – aren’t too dissimilar to the Broncos teams he has faced in the past.
“They’ve been very similar over the last couple of years, and there’s some benefits to that and also some weaknesses to that,” he said.
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