'Let's go': Injury tolls irrelevant for rematch, says Robinson

Roosters coach Trent Robinson has hosed down talk Thursday night's grand final rematch will be ruined by each club's heavy injury tolls, declaring both teams will field 17 players so "let's go".

The 2019 grand final coaches, Robinson and Ricky Stuart, named their 21-man squads on Tuesday but as many as half of the players who featured in last year's decider could be missing through injury, moving clubs or retirement.

Robinson remained hopeful but coy on the availability of co-captains Boyd Cordner, Jake Friend (head knocks) and veteran winger Brett Morris (groin) for the rematch.

However, he was reluctant to offer any empathy towards the Raiders after their own season-ending injuries to English hooker Josh Hodgson and winger Bailey Simonsson last week.

The Green Machine were already without John Bateman, Corey Horsbugh, Sia Soliola and Emre Guler prior to their most-recent additions to the casualty ward.

"I think that's what a squad is for, that's why you assemble a squad, you have faith in all the players that are going to run out," Robinson said.

"The 17 players at the Roosters are going to be ready to go. There are 17 players for us and them, so let's go."

In the past month the Roosters have lost Victor Radley and Sam Verrills for the remainder of the year to ACL injuries.

Robinson used the latest five-try effort from Matt Ikuvalu to highlight the importance of having depth in a first-grade squad.

"That's the thing that happens, it creates opportunity," Robinson said.

"You can look at it in a negative way or be positive in what you've produced outside of the NRL players and get excited about the future.

"That's what we've done and we've really enjoyed watching them play, watching them train and then actually creating change.

"It's about playing NRL but you want to produce guys who are going to create change as soon as they start playing.

"Watching Matty and Lachie [Lam] go on and do that was great to see and we expect more and more of that each week."

The finish to the 2019 Telstra Premiership grand final will go down in folklore as one of the most controversial endings, however, Robinson said they'll take very little away from the week that ended in premiership success.

"You don't dwell on the past, you go and attack the future and that's what we'll do on Thursday night," he said.

"You look at traits on the way teams try to do stuff against you in different games and what was successful for you as well.

"Then you treat it as a new season and a new game. You take lessons but you attack them in 2020 how you want."

Raiders coach Ricky Stuart gave his players an extra day's rest this week in a bid to be physically ready for the rematch after a five-day turnaround following the loss to Melbourne. 

"We've been written off and not given the opportunity to show what's in the inner sanctum and to reveal the identity we are about at the club," Stuart said. 

"Through this tough adversity it gives us a great opportunity to show people what we're about, whoever we play ... to show why we work so hard and what the jumper is about."

Stuart said Curtis Scott won't travel after picking up an arm infection with 21-year-old Fijian prospect Semi Valemei set to make his NRL debut. 

"He's been with us for a couple of years, he's very excited and it's wonderful to let a young player know he's going to be making his NRL debut," Stuart said.

"You much prefer to be debuting these young players in better circumstances because you want to give them every possibility of coming into an occasion at full strength.

"But the other opportunities arrive through the injuries we have at the moment. He's a future NRL player, a big and strong Fijian boy that we see a few of in the competition."