Why the Roosters won’t move Joey Manu to the halves against Manly
Sandon Smith insists he remains the best halfback option at the Sydney Roosters despite a tough NRL finals initiation against Penrith. Smith produced a couple of poor kicks and put his foot into touch in the second half during the 30-10 loss to the Panthers last Friday.
Commentators including Matthew Johns suggested more than once over the weekend the Roosters might be better served by using Joey Manu in the halves rather than sticking with 21-year-old Smith, who was parachuted into the No.7 jersey following Sam Walker’s season-ending ACL injury in the second-last round of the regular season.
But Smith said coach Trent Robinson had already assured him he would be his halfback for Saturday’s clash against Manly – and hopefully the following fortnight. Smith said he had learned from veteran teammates James Tedesco and Luke Keary to ignore any external talk, and insisted “what happens internally is what really matters”.
Asked by this masthead if he feared being dumped for the Allianz Stadium semi-final, Smith said: “All that belief is still there – they’ve shown that belief in me, and ‘Robbo’ told me to take my lessons out of that game.
“I’ve learned some really good lessons last week, now I have a chance to bounce back from that, and hopefully I will. Robbo said not to dwell on it and beat myself up too much and lose confidence. “He said to analyse what happened, why, and what I do next, but after that, ‘Put it into the back of your mind and know that it’s done’. I need to go after the game right from the start.”
Keary said Smith was similar in stature to Walker, and had a similar style to the injured incumbent. “[By playing Smith] we didn’t have to blow up the whole system and figure out a different one, which is what we would have done with [bringing in] Manu or another fullback,” Keary said. “We have so much trust in him. We’ve seen how hard he works, he’s an honest kid and is going to be a good player.
“I look back at my first finals – we were flying at the time, but I had no idea what I was doing. I was running around trying to do my best. He’s a lot further ahead than I was. All these experiences will be so good for him. “We’ve seen how hard he works, we know the type of player he is, the trust the club and the players have in him … he will be back this weekend.”
Manu confirmed there had been no discussions about moving him from the centres. Smith said he had a healthy respect for opposite number Daly Cherry-Evans. “I’ve noticed he goes after every moment and does what it takes to win,” Smith said.