โTheyโve always been a pretty left-dominant attacking side with Cody, Latrell is out there in the centres, and Fifita has just come over โ it will be a good battle for us, we werenโt good enough last week, thereโs no shying away from that,โ Roosters representative utility Connor Watson said.
โRob has only played a year, but is probably one of the best defensive centres in the game. You rarely see him get beaten.
โWhen you lose a guy like that, it ends those combinations youโve been working with. But thatโs the NRL. As a team, regardless of who is playing, we need to do better.โ
Angus Crichton, who debuted for Souths, and celebrates 200 NRL games, said it was always going to take time for Cherry-Evans to adjust to Bondi life, regardless of his experience.
โItโs a whole new system, itโs a whole new outlook on footy, everything is different,โ Crichton said. โPeople think itโs just different colours, but a lot of work goes into coming across [to a new club]. It took me a while to find my feet when I first got here.
โYou have different football philosophies. The way โRobboโ [coach Trent Robinson] sees the game will be different to โChezโsโ coaches in the past.
โIโve seen how much energy Chez has, heโs super excited to play, and heโs got a new-found fire in him. I know thereโs too much care and hard work here in this team for it not to come to light, and weโll keep working hard until it does.โ
As for stopping Mitchell, who has shifted from fullback to left centre, Crichton said: โLatrell is a gun, heโs a weapon. On his day, he can be the best player in the league.
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โWe need to make sure weโre doing everything to shut him down. We know how much he loves getting up to get a win against the Roosters.
โHeโll be fired up, their whole team will be fired up, their fan base will be fired up โ we better make sure weโre fired up, too.โ
