How injured star helped unleash Roosters young gun
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Emerging forward Salesi Foketi has credited representative forward Angus Crichton for mentoring him during a rapid rise from NRL debut to Roosters star.
Foketi has long been viewed as Crichton's long-term replacement when the veteran departs at the end of the season but a serious foot injury accelerated the succession plan.
The 20-year-old has looked at home on the Roosters left edge and delivered 53 exceptional minutes in his maiden finals appearance last weekend.
Salesi Foketi Try
While Crichton is expected to return from injury in Saturday's sudden-death clash with the Sharks, Foketi has retained his place in the starting side and will look to target Cronulla halfback Nicho Hynes throughout the match at Allianz Stadium.
"Seeing the way Gussy trains and the way he plays every time he takes the field is inspiring," Foketi told NRL.com.
"Being able to learn from him, seeing how he goes about it all and picking up tiny details from him is huge. It's helped me tremendously out there on the field."
Match: Roosters v Sharks
Finals Week 2 -
home Team
Roosters
4th Position
away Team
Sharks
5th Position
Venue: Allianz Stadium, Sydney
Match broadcasters:
- WatchNRL
Foketi grew up in Auckland before moving to Sydney as a 17-year-old to join the Roosters pathways program.
The edge forward quickly rose through the club's flourishing development pipeline before making his debut in Round 1 last season.
Foketi featured in 19 games in his rookie campaign and has quickly developed into a key figure in the Roosters pack.
In a sign of how important the youngster is to coach Trent Robinson, an ill Foketi was given every chance to prove his fitness for last week's clash with the Panthers.
Salesi Foketi Try
The forward battled influenza all week leading into the game and was only cleared to take his place in the squad a few hours before kick-off.
While he remained in the squad, Foketi started the match on the six-man bench and was only expecting to feature late in the contest. That changed just 19 minutes into the game when Egan Butcher suffered a head knock, with Foketi thrust into the action much earlier than anticipated.
"I hadn't been with the boys since [Wednesday]," Foketi said. "I hadn't trained, barely ate and was in bed most of the time.
"I went in on the day of the game and Robbo asked how I was feeling. You put the boys first, they give you that bit of energy so I said I was good to go.
"It was an intense atmosphere but in some ways I was fortunate to be sick and not have all the build up around it being a finals game. Leading into this week there will be more hype."
Foketi will line up on the Roosters left edge on Saturday night, directly opposite Sharks, and Kiwis, forward Briton Nikora.
The match provides Foketi with a chance to prove he belongs in Stacy Jones' New Zealand squad for the upcoming World Cup, while he is also eligible for Tonga and was a member of Kristian Woolf's squad for last year's Pacific Championships.
The representative hype comes as no surprise to the youngster's Roosters teammates, who have been impressed with Foketi's ability to repeatedly elevate his game.
Radley ready for showdown in the middle
"Salesi's character is the most impressive thing," experienced lock Victor Radley said. "He puts his teammates first, you can tell in his effort areas and what he works on in his game.
"He's got some brilliant moments, when he folds blokes or steps someone or carries as powerfully as he does but his character and how he puts his teammates before anyone else is super impressive.
"[Last week] he could have easily said 'it's not for me today' just to cover his own backside but he said 'no, I want to turn up and give it my all'. We ended up needing him to play big minutes so it's super impressive."
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