Sometimes, late in a game, it comes down to effort. Emptying the tank, leaving it all on the field, running your blood to water and all of those cliches.
James Tedesco and Luke Keary’s late charge downs certainly fall into that category. The pair denied Nicho Hynes not once, but twice in his attempts to equalise late on in the Roosters’ 13-12 win over the Sharks on Saturday night.
But according to coach Trent Robinson, it wasn’t the effort that impressed him. It was the smarts.
“A lot of people get into the position to charge down, but they don’t get there,” he explained.
“You have to lead with your head and arms. If your head is in the way, your arms will be in the way. Both boys did that.
“For Kez to do it on the second one and for Siua (Wong) to pick the ball up, that was the game there. They were big plays because they looked like they were on target.”
The third big play was from his other key man, Sam Walker, who had already iced the field goal that put the Chooks in front.
But as much as Robinson paid tribute to Walker – whom he dropped after his previous visit to the Shire, in Round 7 – he also brought up another clutch kick, the conversion following Wong’s try that levelled the scores at 12-12 and brought the field goal into the game.
“I think there were two (kicks) there,” said the coach.
“Definitely Sammy struck it beautifully. It was a great carry from Ted, a great pass from Sandon (Smith) and Sammy nailed the kick.
“It was straight, high, beautifully struck. He’s cold-blooded in those moments and he shown that over time.
“The other is Billy Smith – at 12-10 (behind), Sammy’s done his ankle and Billy is fifth string at goalkicking. I don’t even know if he’s fifth.
“Keary is ahead of him and he thought that Sam took that kick for goal. Billy said ‘I’ll take it’ and to nail that at 12-10, it’s a huge play from Billy Smith. He doesn’t practice.”
Robinson laid that out as an example of his side’s willingness to muck in for each other. They had multiple injuries, notably with Joey Manu and Joseph Suaalii departing with a hamstring tear and concussion symptoms respectively.
“That was our night,” said Robinson.
“It was an example of guys saying ‘It’s not really normal, but I’ll do a job’. Angus (Crichton) at left centre, Siua at right centre, Junior (Pauga) going left wing, right wing, Billy on the wing, Sandon at fullback. Tyrell (May) played 40 minutes in the second half.
“The purists on how you want to play footy, yeah, you can pick that apart. But the spirit that a team plays with, for that to be questioned at different times, that’s of the highest order for a Roosters-spirited game.”
Tedesco himself didn’t mention the charge down, but instead focus on his time in the sin bin for a professional foul, and how he had expected the worst in his time off the field.
As it happened, the Sharks emerged only with a penalty goal from their ten minutes with a man extra, paving the way for Easts to make their move.
“I thought it was going to be tough,” said the Roosters captain.
“I felt like I’d let the boys down. Sin bins have played a big part this year and when you’re missing a man down for ten minutes, it can swing momentum really fast.
“There wasn’t even a TV in the sheds to watch the game, so I was trying to watch from the tunnel.
“I just wanted the boys to dig deep and I felt like we got stronger and stronger to stay in the game and win the game. People out of position, the two Joeys off, we dug deep and did whatever it took.”
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