When it comes to resting players ahead of the NRL finals, few have mastered the art of managing their squads like the Sydney Roosters.
Almost 30 players from the NRL’s top-eight teams will miss games this weekend as coaches try to keep them primed for the finals.
Melbourne will have 12 missing while Canberra will be without nine.
The Roosters, meanwhile, will sit just three against South Sydney on Friday night – Joey Manu, Lindsay Collins and Isaac Liu.
That will ensure coach Trent Robinson has given every player a rest this year, with Manu the last to be ticked off.
Since round 14, Sitili Tupouniua and Nat Butcher will be the only players to have featured in every match in the run to the finals with ongoing restings.
“You have a plan at the start of a season so as soon as you walk back in you have a plan,” Robinson said.
“Then you reassess that every couple of weeks with where players are at and if any unforeseen circumstances come along and where you’re sitting on the table.
“There is a balance between knowing which guys you want to get some rest, and guys we have had a group out over a period of time only four weeks ago.”
Robinson has been doing this for years.
In the past four seasons, just five players have gone through an entire year unchanged.
He also works his forwards between 80-minute games so they can pull it off when required, and long stints on the bench to give them rests when required.
There are adaptations too, with Boyd Cordner being given last week off despite passing concussion protocols but given the clearance to return on Friday night.
But in a year like 2020, he can’t blame any team that wants to sit players in bulk.
“This is a unique competition where we have gone 18 games straight,” he said.
“No players have played 18 straight (before without byes), the Origin guys have come in and out, sometimes there is 10-day breaks in between.
“You make sure you feel the heartbeat of your team and act accordingly.”