He missed Rd 1 due to a groin injury, but Roosters coach Brian Smith has declared five-eighth Todd Carney has fit as a fiddle to play in Rd 2 against the Sea Eagles.
Whilst there were initially some concerns if he would indeed play in Rd 2, these were quashed, after Smith watched the play-maker train strongly, and all but guarantee his spot in the starting line-up.
Carney has also been placed on a media ban this week, but he Smith expects him to fire up and deliver a crushing performance.
‘Yeah Toddy loves that,” Smith said.
“That’s his domain, game day and that 80 minutes. “He’s right in his element.”
It might just be the boost that the Roosters need, after they failed to put the Rabbitohs to the sword, and let them back in the game on Friday night, only just holding on.
“I’m pretty certain he will play,” Smith said.
“He was rapt in himself.
“In fact, he wanted to do a bit of goalkicking practice at the end, but the physio suggested we wait for another couple of days.
“He had a little irritation on Friday in his training which is why he didn’t play, but Saturday he was fine and he had physio again on Sunday so he’s was able to train freely.
“It’s looking good, unless something goes wrong.
“If he had another little problem with it we’d probably pull the pin again, but at this stage we’d be thinking he’s a strong chance of playing.”
Roosters halfback Mitchell Pearce knows that Carney is chomping at the bit to play, and he expects a big performance from the star five-eighth.
“After the season he had he’s stinging to get back on the field and take off where he left off,” Pearce said.
“He’s been out with a groin injury for the last eight weeks, so just having him out on the field and slowly getting back into it is the best thing for the side.”
Pearce also admits that he cannot wait to have Carney playing alongside him again.
“He’s a great player and he’s going to be a real leader of our attack again this year,” he said. “I’m looking forward to playing with him.
“A player of his calibre is going to be great to come back into the side.”