Grand Final week is taxing for everyone involved – but even more when you’re the last name on the teamsheet and playing out of position.
Bailey Simonsson was the man who got the late call-up to deputise for the injured Tom Opacic last week, a move that resulted in him turning out in the centres for the first time in his career.
Now, he’s all set to face up against the most devastating backline in the comp – but will approach Penrith with a clear mind.
“We have to go out and fight fire with fire,” he told The Roar. “They’re going to carry hard so we have to carry hard. It’s a battle. It’s going to be a war out there. We’ll have to come off the back fence, run hard and win that field position.
“We know they’re going to do it because they do it every week. We’ve got to bring our game and fight fire with fire.”
That job includes taking the kicks of Nathan Cleary, who caused conniptions for Eels winger Waqa Blake in the opening week of the finals, and subsequently Taane Milne in the preliminary final against South Sydney.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Simonsson has been named in the centres but may yet play on the wing, switching with Blake to get the Fijian out of the firing line.
“You have to own your job,” he said. “You’re on the wing so if you have to catch the ball, you have to catch the ball, that’s your job. Everyone knows that he has a great kicking game but I have to own my role. They’re tough to catch and it’s easier said that done, but you have to attack it with confidence.
“Waqa is great. He gets his reps in at training. You saw at the weekend in the other game, every winger is going to struggle against his high ball.
“We have full confidence in Waqa, he’s good under the high ball and we have full confidence in him.”
Regardless of where he starts, Simonsson will be a lot clearer this week than last, where he only found out that he was taking part at all midweek when Opacic was ruled out.
“I prepare the same every week, even if I’m not playing or if I’m 18th man,” his said of his whirlwind last seven days. “Whatever game I’m playing, I prepare the same. I treat my body right and get ready to play. Nothing changes.
“I knew pretty early on that Tommy probably wasn’t going to be right. I knew before the news broke, obviously, well before then. I was able to prep well last week.
“I’ve done a lot of reps at training and done all the work, so I knew that I was going to do my job. With the players around me, it’s just coming in and performing my role.”
Now, he’s not only in the squad – named ahead of the still-injured Opacic – but a rarity: a Grand Final veteran. Only Simonsson, who featured off the bench in 2019 for the Canberra Raiders, and lock Ryan Matterson, who won a comp in 2018 with the Roosters – have experience of the biggest game of the year.
“I haven’t said anything to the boys about it yet” joke Simonsson. “I was lucky enough to play in one in my first year. It was a bit of a whirlwind coming into a Grand Final.
“The boys know what they’ve got to do: treat it as another game, but treat it with the respect that it deserves, prepare well and give it a good shake.
“I think it’s about staying calm and sticking to what you do. You don’t have to change your preparation and processes at all. It’s another game.
“There’s high stakes and it’s the biggest stage, the Grand Final, but you have to keep the prep the same, go out there, play to your game plan and leave it all out there to hopefully get the best result.”
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