He was robbed of a rematch with fiery forward Corey Horsburgh, and now Sharks enforcer Royce Hunt says he’s “filthy” he won’t get the chance to lock horns with Roosters veteran Jared Waerea-Hargreaves in this week’s elimination final.
NRL fans will have to wait until next year for Hunt and Horsburgh to go toe-to-toe again after the Raiders lock missed last week’s showdown in the Shire due to suspension.
Fireworks were predicted after Hunt called the Queensland rookie a “weak-gutted dog” for pushing him over when they met back in round 3.
Hunt reacted and was sent to the sin bin for lashing out but never got the chance to get his revenge on the field.
The 28-year-old was hoping to take on Waerea-Hargreaves on Saturday night, but fans will miss out on another battle of the big men after the Roosters prop was banned for seven matches for two separate incidents in the win over the Tigers.
“It’s kind of a relief because you don’t have to worry about someone trying to take your head off every run,” Hunt joked when asked if he was upset that he’d been robbed of a heavyweight confrontation.
“I’m the kind of guy who loves a challenge, so I’m a bit filthy that he’s not playing, but I’m still looking forward to the challenge of taking on their other middles.”
The Roosters still have plenty of muscle, but Hunt hasn’t decided if he’ll go after Victor Radley, Lindsay Collins or someone else.
“I’ll look at it later in the week. I’ll do some video on their big boys and see who their most damaging player is,” he said.
“It’s something I do the week of (the game). I look at who we’re playing and I’ll see who their middles are and then decide who I’m going to challenge.
“Then I think who’s going to try to lock horns with me first, and then I go out there and try to lock horns with them before they can go after me.
“My strength is my running game, so as soon as I get the ball, I try to find the biggest guy and try to single him out.
“I love the big boys that want to lock horns with me and throw down. I love a challenge in a game so I’m all for it, and I’m all for having a target on my back as well.”
Radley is an obvious target given his tendency to push the envelope on the field, but the Roosters lock has received help to narrow his focus after he was sin-binned three times in as many games, including their round 7 clash in Cronulla.
“He meditates often. We have a guy called Velan who he has gone to see,” Roosters back-rower Nat Butcher said.
“He checks in with him and is really in touch with spirituality.
“I think daily meditation has been part of his rehab process into growing up and being able to control his anger.”
The battle of the big boys could be the highlight on Saturday night, with the Sharks showing how damaging their forwards can be after injuries wreaked havoc with their rotations earlier in the year.
Hunt (ankle), Toby Rudolf (foot) and Braden Hamlin-Uele (knee) have all missed large chunks of the season but are all fit and firing, with the towering Tom Hazelton also stepping up with Dale Finucane (biceps) out for the year.
“It was touch and go at the start of the year,” Hunt said.
“Brades got injured first and then we’d just tag team the whole time. We’d joke with each other, so when he got injured and I said I’d tag in and then we joked that I’d get injured and he’d come back in, which is exactly what happened.
“It’s really good to be all be back and playing with a full-strength middle, although I’m filthy that Dale is still out. He looks good and I keep telling him he should play, but we’ve got Tommy in the rotation now and he’s come out of his shell, which is great.”
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