Trent Robinson did not quite say the Roosters would put a target on Melbourne’s biggest and meanest man.
And neither Jared Waerea-Hargreaves or Nelson Asofa-Solomona were made available to the media this week, even though the Roosters prop is potentially playing the last NRL game of his career.
But the looming final clash between two of the last genuine rugby league enforcers is undoubtedly the storyline of Friday’s preliminary final, along with the Storm’s five-year dominance of Robinson’s Roosters.
That’s because the distinguishing feature of the Roosters’ only two wins over Melbourne in their past 12 clashes has been their take-down of Asofa-Solomona and physical dominance of the southern powerhouse.
“They wanted a street fight tonight, and Jared gave them one,” was the crux of Robinson’s post-match address to his players after the Roosters’ last win in Melbourne – a memorable 2022 clash when the two Kiwis saw red and hunted each other all night, with Waerea-Hargreaves sin-binned for roughing up Asofa-Solomona after hitting Cameron Munster high a moment earlier.
The last preliminary final between the two sides, in 2019, began in similar fashion – even with Waerea-Hargreaves suspended and watching from the sidelines.
All in: Storm and Roosters players collide early on.Credit: Getty Images
Asofa-Solomona and Siua Taukeiaho threw punches after the former took the very first carry of the match, finding themselves sin-binned within 20 seconds of kick-off before the Roosters prevailed 14-6.
Asked if targeting Asofa-Solomona – 200cm tall and tipping the scales at 115 kilos – was the key to the Roosters conquering Melbourne’s pack, Robinson said: “I think it’s the key to us.
“You have a style of play. And when we play at our best, we honour that. We need to hold that intensity about us and we have the players that enjoy playing at that level.
“Jared idles high when it comes to his intensity, so it’s more about himself than it is any opposition. We just want him to play how he plays, along with the whole forward pack. We want him to set the tone, like front-rowers should do. And then for the whole pack to do that as well.”
The enforcer: Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.Credit: NRL Imagery
Storm coach Craig Bellamy would not be drawn on the heavyweight match-up, insisting Asofa-Solomona need only “play his game”, and dead-batting several questions on Waerea-Hargreaves’ influence.
With Super League beckoning for Waerea-Hargreaves next season, both he and Victor Radley, who returned from a fractured scapula, proved critical in a dominant win over Manly last week.
Radley began preparations for Friday’s Melbourne trip declaring “you’ve got to be violent, you’ve got to be physical” to beat the Storm.
Robinson said the “madness” of Radley and Waerea-Hargreaves holds a special place in his heart – just not necessarily when he’s watching it play out in real time, when the threat of penalties and sin-bins is all too real.
“Your natural feeling is [that] there’s a real pride in coaching those guys,” Robinson said.
“It’s a real honour, I’ve had that over the years, the honour of coaching guys who are a little bit different. They are the reason we watch our sport. I don’t know if I [appreciate it] when I’m in that game mode but during the week when you think about what men do to play for this team, it’s a real honour to coach that.”
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