Battles with the Best: Roosters gun’s 45-game baptism by fire
It’s easy to forget that Robert Toia, for all his brilliance in both attack and defence, has played less than 50 first grade matches with the Sydney Roosters.
The 22-year-old has firmly cemented himself as one of the NRL’s best centres since making his debut at the start of last season with the Tricolours and is now preparing to play in his first grand final against the Newcastle Knights.
Robert Toia has become an NRL superstar. NRL Images
Toia rocketed into the State of Origin arena after only 10 appearances in club land and stepped up to the task immediately for the Maroons, while continuing to develop and evolve as a star on the rise for the Roosters.
In his debut Origin series, Toia was up against Latrell Mitchell and won over plenty of admirers for his defensive work on the Rabbitohs wrecking ball.
This year, Toia has gone to another level and is a serious weapon on both sides of the ball, starring for the Roosters in their run to the NRL decider.
Friday night’s preliminary final was further proof that the bigger the occasion, the better Toia seems to play, locking down perhaps his main rival to being dubbed the world’s best centre in Dolphins superstar Herbie Farnworth.
Toia was defensively sound, making 23 tackles and missing just two as he limited his opposite number throughout the night at Suncorp Stadium.
With ball in hand, Toia was at his damaging best, making two line breaks and eight tackle breaks, running for 128 metres and scoring a crucial second-half try.
But even though he got the clear points decision over Farnworth in a truly elite one-on-on battle, Toia remained humble in the aftermath.
“It was a great battle with Herbie and credit to him, he’s such a gun and he definitely brought the best out of me,” Toia told nine.com.au on Monday.
“I feel like he had me on lock the whole 80 minutes.”
The task doesn’t get any easier in the grand final for Toia when meets an in-form Bradman Best, who has terrorised opposition defences for the past three weeks of the finals series, including in Newcastle’s shock win over Penrith.
“He’s in pretty good form at the moment and I love that,” Toia said.
“It’s better for me, getting to showcase what I can do against the best players and show how much confidence I have in my own abilities.
“Knowing that I can stop anyone on their day and knowing I can produce whatever my team needs from me, with and without the ball, fills me with confidence.”
Toia also credited his early experiences in Origin and said it “won’t get any easier or any harder” than playing in the sport’s toughest arena.
Bradman Best. NRL Images
The young gun’s rise to a grand final appearance hasn’t come without setbacks either, having overcome two ACL injuries before debuting in the top grade.
Roosters officials always had high hopes for Toia and never gave up on him making a seamless transition to the NRL level.
Toia has since repaid the faith in spades, scoring 22 tries in 45 games and proving himself as a long-term asset for Trent Robinson’s side.
And what made last weekend’s preliminary final even sweeter for Toia was getting to share it with guys he has climbed the Roosters ranks with.
“It was just a crazy feeling, I remember just hugging the boys, the emotions were so high – especially when I saw Siua [Wong] and Salesi [Foketi],” he said.
“Straight away I thought back to a few years ago, we were just kids playing in the SG Ball grand final, so to be in an NRL grand final together, I can’t believe it.”
Robert Toia and Siua Wong. Getty Images
Toia, Wong and Foketi will all start in Sunday night’s clash and will be among a stack of Roosters stars featuring in their first grand final.
Benaiah Ioelu – another member of the 2022 SG Ball premiership team – could join the Roosters’ six-man bench if utility Connor Watson is sidelined with concussion.
The only players from the club’s last title triumph in 2019 will be James Tedesco, Daniel Tupou, Nat Butcher, Victor Radley and Angus Crichton.
