Trent Robinson has declared Angus Crichton’s recovery from his well-publicised mental health struggles as a ‘never-ending path’, but said that he had no hesistation about throwing the Kangaroos backrower back into first grade for the Anzac Cup clash with the Dragons.
He remained, however, uncommitted on the comeback of ditched halfback Sam Walker, insisting that the halfback job would remain selected on an ongoing basis. Joey Manu will start alongside Luke Keary in tomorrow’s showpiece.
Crichton returned to action in the Roosters’ heavy defeat to Newtown in NSW Cup last Saturday, but was immediately added to the top grade squad, with his coach insisting that there was no specific roadmap for him to follow.
“There wasn’t a timeline on this,” said Robinson. “We weren’t sure at which speed things were going to go. Obviously, that’s not my decision, there’s been a medical decision before it got to me.
“All the OKs were there and then it got to me around the footy decision, so we’ve ticked all those boxes and he’s right to go.
“It’s a never-ending path as far as I know, but it’s great to have him back on the footy field and doing what he loves. It’s a part of the process as well.”
Robbo added that Crichton had never been out of shape physically, and that once he was good to go in himself, the team welcomed him back.
“He’s worked hard this year to get himself right off the field and to go through what he needs to do and his life in order,” said the coach.
“He’s been training all through that period and keeping physically fit, so that has never been in question. We’ve seen a guy that’s trained really well and fit back in physically. We feel like he’s ready to go.
“He’s a good voice for us to have. He’s a strong line runner and a physical player, an Australia player. For us, we’ve missed him. To get him back in has been really important this week.”
Crichton spoke to the Sun-Herald over the weekend and said that he was good to go, and even threw his name into the ring for an Origin return, if selected. Robinson appreciated his confidence.
“That’s always been a part of him and his desire to be the best possible player that he can, so if he’s talking in those terms it means that he’s really focussed on playing and his goals are very clear,” he said.
“That seems like a good mindset to be in. I thought it was better to get him started. Physically he’s really good. With the way I’ve seen him train over the last month, he’s hit his mark continuously. That’s been really good to see and to get him out to start was an easy choice, actually.”
(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)
The Roosters boss spent his Sunday watching Walker run around in reserve grade at Wentworth Park, where the NSW Cup side went down to the Dragons despite their star inclusion.
Robinson has not shied away from dropping big name talent back to reggies before – he did the same to Latrell Mitchell and Joey Manu too – and said that there were positives from his young halfback’s display.
“It was good to go out there and see him run around,” he said. “We had an indifferent performance from our reserve grade so we want to do better there but it was good to see him get out there and play lots of different styles of play and work out how he wants to run that team.
“There’s things there that I won’t go into, but there was some things that he did really well and some things that I’d like him to improve on, like any game, like any player. It’s the same whether it’s Suia Wong or Nathan Brown yesterday, the same things that you go through.
“We were OK yesterday, we’d like to have performed better. We’ll keeping working, but as I’ve said, the trust and belief in him is quite clear. He’s a 20-year-old and he’ll continue to progress a lot over the next few years of his career and this is just a part of it.”
He refused, however, to be drawn on when Walker might return again in first grade. Manu will take the 6 jumper on Anzac Day and Robinson insisted that it remained week-to-week regarding who would feature in the spine.
“There’s no crystal ball here,” said the coach.
“Let’s play tomorrow. There’s a lot of speculation around but let’s go week by week. Every player is in the mix every week.
“He (Manu) has played a couple of games in the spine: he played there against the Dragons last time and he’s played a bit of fullback. There’s been a couple of different occasions, and that’s always the case when you have a centre of his quality.
“Knowing you want to get him the ball, we changed that a bit last year with that roaming role, and he had one of the best years that he’s had in a Roosters jersey and then backed it up at the World Cup. That roaming aspect was a real benefit to our game and to his game.
“But some of those traits in a five eighth role are a little bit clearer and he’s more consistently in that spot. We need to give him space to own that role and we’re looking forward to getting a really strong team performance tomorrow.
“A lot of this week has been around us, obviously with focusing on changing combinations and getting some new guys in so it has been back to our style of play and focus on that. We know what to expect. I’m never worried, I’m looking forward to it.”
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