Sydney Roosters legend Anthony Minichiello was quick to send his premiership-winning coach Ricky Stuart a congratulatory text after Canberra advanced to the NRL grand final.
But that’s where the niceties ended, with the former captain backing his Roosters to get the better of Stuart’s Raiders at ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.
Minichiello and Stuart have a long history going back to their 2002 NRL premiership at the Roosters, but that has all been put aside in grand final week.
“We’re good mates – when you win a competition you’ve got that bond for life,” the 39-year-old told AAP.
“You’ve gone through the whole year and worked hard and you end up achieving something that’s pretty special and hard to do.
“When the Raiders got into the grand final I shot him a text saying congratulations and I was happy for him. But this week it’s different story – hopefully the Roosters can win.”
Minichiello credits Stuart for shifting him from the wing to fullback where he became one of the game’s most lauded stars, still holding Roosters’ records for games played (302) and tries scored (139).
They had two more losing grand finals together, in 2003 and 2004, before Stuart was axed in late 2006 with Minichiello going on to play in a further three grand finals, captaining the Roosters to the 2013 title win over Manly.
While he sees his club becoming the first in 26 years to win back-to-back titles in a unified competition, he knows Stuart won’t make it easy for them.
“Ricky is probably one of the most competitive guys I’ve ever met,” he said.
“He’s intense, there’s no doubt about it, and his competitiveness comes out in training and everyone knows that he hates losing.
“He’s done such a great job with the Raiders. Sunday’s going to be a huge game for both teams.”
Minichiello predicts the Roosters will have too much grand final experience with centre Joey Leilua being the only Canberra player who has lined up in a decider before – coincidentally alongside Minichiello in their 2010 loss to the Dragons.
“Pressure does funny things to people so I think the advantage there is, having played in last year’s grand final, the Roosters know the different types of pressure that comes with it,” he said.
“When you’ve been there before you balance the week out a bit more and enjoy the time with the fans and the media and then you switch to preparing mentally and physically.
“Sometimes when it’s your first time you can get overawed by the whole occasion and build it up in your head too much.
“You have to balance that week and build the week up and be ready to play on grand final day. Not (on) Thursday or Friday.”
He believes the Eastern Suburbs team’s defensive wall will be too tough for Canberra, and the Raiders will start making mistakes as they try to find a crack.
“I really think the Raiders will find it hard to score points to get the victory,” Minichiello said.
“If those passes stick for the Raiders, and Josh Hodgson gets out of dummy half and starts creating then it’s going to be a game.
“But I feel the Roosters’ defence in big games is the best.”
