A bulk of the Sydney Roosters' representative stars will be welcomed back to training this Wednesday by a club who now knows they can compete without them.
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Seven first-choice Roosters missed the side's 20-12 defeat of the Gold Coast on Sunday that propelled them to fourth on the NRL ladder.
Origin quartet James Tedesco, Dylan Napa, Boyd Cordner and Latrell Mitchell were all left out, while Cooper Cronk stayed in Sydney awaiting the birth of his first child, Victor Radley served a suspension and Mitchell Aubusson (hamstring) was also a late scratching.
Incredibly, debutants Paul Momirovski, Sean O'Sullivan and Poasa Faamausili all scored in what coach Trent Robinson called a proud moment for the club.
"To debut three guys is not quite normal," he said.
"They train with us and against us every single day.
"We trust them and that's why we made a decision a while ago (to rest the Origin representatives)."
Co-captain Jake Friend said the win without his high-profile teammates would launch the back-end of their season.
"It makes me feel old hearing the amount of games and date of birth when they tell you," he said.
Napa (knee) won't play this weekend but Robinson said the Blues trio would come back after a few more days of leave "hungry and ready to go" without obsessing over their position on a jam-packed ladder.
"I don't think we've mentioned it (being in the top four); it's about us getting better," the coach said.
"We know where we want to go."
Australian Associated Press
