St George Illawarra playmaker Corey Norman has never been one to bite his tongue.
One of the straightest shooters in the NRL, the 28-year-old had already let his mind wander to next Sunday against his old Parramatta teammates within an hour of fulltime on Anzac Day.
“Yeah, I’ll be spraying them,” Norman laughed.
“I will be throwing a bit of lip on the field but I’ll be getting some back too.
“No doubt I will be seeing a bit of traffic and I’m looking forward to the competition.”
Norman spent all of the past two seasons hearing about what the redeveloped Western Sydney Stadium would be like.
But come next weekend he’ll run out there a fortnight after the rest of his ex-Eels teammates have, and wearing the Dragons’ Red V.
The Queenslander’s exit from the Eels wasn’t clean cut after a five-season stay there.
He had a year to run on his contract and it came after rumours of him being shopped around by Parramatta for the majority of 2018.
Norman also spent the back half of last season moving between fullback and five-eighth, as his halves partnership with Mitchell Moses never gelled.
But in his first game up against his old team, Norman insists he won’t be going out there to make a statement.
“There’s no point to prove, it is what it is. I have left there … it’s rugby league and people get moved on,” he said.
“I’m happy now, they’re happy now. It’s just going to be a great game at a new stadium.”
Norman watched the Eels’ stadium-opening flogging of the Wests Tigers as closely as anyone.
He recognised the emotion surrounding the club’s return to their Parramatta base, and the excitement
But while he knows the ground will continue to provide some kind of advantage for his old club, he doesn’t expect the Eels to maintain the same type of rage.
“That was always going to happen with the new ground there, but I’d be very surprised if they do that again,” Norman said.
“No doubt they will start well again, but the way they started last week was pretty crazy.
“We’ve probably got to step our first half up because they will be coming out firing.”