Sydney Roosters are facing a sudden setback just weeks out from the NRL finals, with star veteran winger Daniel Tupou sidelined by a serious shoulder injury – but head coach Trent Robinson is drawing on a positive piece of club history to steady the side ahead of their critical Thursday clash with the North Queensland Cowboys.
Tupou sustained an anterior shoulder dislocation while making a tackle against the Newcastle Knights last weekend. Instead of undergoing invasive surgery, the 35-year-old club legend will follow a structured non-operative rehabilitation program, with a projected return to the field in five weeks – a timeline that would see him back in action just before the finals kick off. In his absence, 24-year-old Tommy Talau has emerged as the front-runner to step into Tupou’s left wing position for the Cowboys match, with fellow utility back Billy Smith also in contention for the spot. Should Smith be named on the wing, the Roosters plan to shift Hugo Savala into the left centre role to cover the gap.
Robinson says Tupou has taken the injury setback in stride, noting the winger’s famously even-keeled and optimistic approach to adversity. “He doesn’t express it too much, ‘Toops’, but he’s a positive guy, so he easily rolls with the punches,” Robinson told reporters. “He hasn’t had one of these for a while where it’s been this long. I remember he had a torn lat very similar to this 10, 12 years ago where he was out for a little bit, but he’ll be fresh and ready to go. It gives an opportunity for some other guys to jump in there and play.”
The scenario is not an unfamiliar one for the Roosters. Robinson recalled an almost identical situation in 2020, when Tupou went down with a syndesmosis injury against the Melbourne Storm, forcing a late call-up for replacement winger Matt Ikuvalu. In a fairytate turn, Ikuvalu went on to score five tries in the Roosters’ next match against the Cowboys in Townsville – a historic performance that still stands as one of the most memorable underdog stories in the club’s recent history. When asked if he was hoping for a repeat of that 2020 magic this week, Robinson smiled and said, “I’m OK with that.”
He went on to joke about the quirk of that 2020 game that saw experienced Super League try-scoring machine Ryan Hall shifted between wings to accommodate Ikuvalu, only for the youngster to claim all the tries. “Poor old Ryan Hall got moved (that night). He was on the right wing, and then we thought with the backfield carries we’d move Hally to the left wing and Matt Ikuvalu to the right, and then Matt scores five. Poor old Hally, he’s scored a thousand (tries) in Super League, didn’t get one here.”
Replacing a player of Tupou’s caliber is no small task, however. The 35-year-old winger, who is closing in on his 300th NRL game and has notched nearly 200 career tries, brings a unique combination of endurance, aerial dominance and big-game experience that cannot be easily replicated. Tupou is also off-contract at the end of the 2024 season, and the club has been working through a decision on his future. Robinson said the Roosters had initially planned to make a call on Tupou’s contract after four weeks, but that timeline has shifted slightly. “I’d say it’d be in the next two to three weeks we’ll know where Toops is at and where we’re at,” Robinson said. “Toops is an honest man, he’s quite clear about that and he’s not going to fake it. He’ll make a decision whether he’s ready to go or whether he’s not. I’m not sure whether that (the injury) will shift that, but we’ll know in the next few weeks.”
For now, the focus remains on preparing for the Cowboys clash, with the Roosters hoping that history can repeat itself for their new fill-in winger, just as it did four years ago.