The Sydney Roosters have suffered a significant setback ahead of their highly anticipated grudge match against South Sydney this Friday night at Allianz Stadium. Centre Billy Smith has been officially ruled out of the contest after sustaining a concussion in an unfortunate e-bike accident.
Concussion Protocol Sidelines Key Player
In a further blow for the Tricolours, Smith is also set to miss next week's bumper clash with the Penrith Panthers under the NRL's strict concussion policy. The 26-year-old required stitches when assessed by club medical staff following the incident at Moore Park, which occurred close to the Roosters' headquarters. While Smith expressed confidence that he did not suffer any serious long-term damage, he will be watching Friday's crucial match from the grandstand rather than participating on the field.
Injury-Prone Career Takes Another Hit
Smith has endured a horror run with injuries throughout his NRL career, having never played more than fifteen games in a single season until last year. This latest setback continues an unfortunate pattern for one of the league's most injury-prone players. His absence is particularly disappointing given his strong performance in last week's surprise loss to the Warriors, where he was one of the Roosters' better players on a difficult day.
Roosters players frequently use electric scooters and bikes to move around the Moore Park precinct, as the club's training fields are situated a considerable distance from the gym facilities within Allianz Stadium. Smith's accident has, at least momentarily, shifted attention away from South Sydney flyer Alex Johnston and his bid to overtake Ken Irvine's long-standing competition try-scoring record.
Record Chase Overshadowed by Accident
Johnston requires just one four-pointer against arch-rivals the Roosters to draw level with Irvine on 212 career tries, while a double would break the record that has stood since 1969. It would undoubtedly please South Sydney if Johnston were to achieve this milestone on Friday night, given the long-running turf war over Allianz Stadium, which serves as the Roosters' traditional home ground.
'We don't want him to score any tries,' Roosters coach Trent Robinson stated emphatically. 'That hasn't been brought up because our job is to allow no tries on that edge, so there's not a sort of discussion about don't let a certain somebody score. Hopefully the following week he'll break that record. Alex is a really good person, a good man and a great footy player and he deserves everything he gets. I'm really happy for him and what he's done in the game, and I look forward to seeing him celebrate, hopefully on a television from a distance.'
Coaches Focus on Defensive Improvements
Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett insisted on Thursday that his team had not discussed Johnston's potential record-breaking moment, indicating they would not try to force the issue during gameplay. In order to shut down Johnston and the rest of South Sydney's potent left edge—who have accumulated 483 NRL tries between them—Robinson is well aware that the Roosters must urgently fix their right-side defensive issues.
Five of the Warriors' seven tries came down that side during their shock 42-18 victory over the Roosters last week, marking a tough debut for star recruit Daly Cherry-Evans. The Roosters will welcome back centre Robert Toia for Friday night's match, while Siua Wong has been upgraded to start as left second-rower ahead of Nat Butcher.
'There were probably two things we identified, which I won't go into, that we felt like we needed to fix to improve that edge,' Robinson revealed. 'That didn't come up after the game but we've been working on them and we needed to double down this week.'
Smith has been replaced by Fetalaiga Pauga in the Roosters' squad update announced on Thursday night, as the team prepares for one of their most important matches of the season without one of their key attacking weapons.
