Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has slammed concerns about a State of Origin player drain, adamant the representative exposure helps win premierships.
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The Raiders will play a depleted Sydney Roosters side at Canberra Stadium on Sunday as the Green Machine targets back to back wins.
The Roosters haven't won in the capital since 2010 and they'll have to reverse the trend without regular stars Mitchell Pearce, Blake Ferguson, Boyd Cordner, Dylan Napa and Aidan Guerra.
But Stuart dismissed as nonsense the notion teams with the most players in Origin squads suffer, adding he would rather have players involved in the game's showpiece "because I know how important rep players are".
The Broncos and Queensland avoided a showdown over Anthony Milford when Johnathan Thurston was ruled out of the Origin opener on Thursday while some fear a representative toll on their team.
The Raiders will be missing Josh Papalii, arguably one of the most in-form back-rowers in the NRL, for the clash against the Roosters but several other players missed out on a NSW call up.
Shannon Boyd, Junior Paulo, Jarrod Croker and Joey Leilua were all on the NSW radar but were overlooked by coach Laurie Daley.
Stuart and the Raiders are unfazed by the Origin scenario, viewing it as an opportunity to build momentum in their season. But Stuart would rather see his stars get representative experience.
"I keep hearing all that type of nonsense [and] rubbish talk of, 'we've got all of our rep players out'," said former NSW coach Stuart.
"I've got all of my rep players out, too. I've only got one. All of these coaches who complain about having rep players out, well they win grand finals because of rep players.
"I know what I'd prefer. I'd prefer to have five rep players out today than only one because rep players win you grand finals. That's all nonsense talk, we're not falling into that."
The Raiders have an impressive recent record against the Roosters in Canberra, losing just two matches at home in the past decade.
But Stuart says his men will not underestimate the Roosters, who still boast attacking weapons Latrell Mitchell, Daniel Tupou, Michael Gordon and Luke Keary to partner forwards Jake Friend and Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
The Raiders snapped a three-game losing streak last weekend and it is hoped beating the Parramatta Eels will kickstart a form turnaround.
"We've been a little bit impatient with the football and I think we showed a lot more patience last week," Stuart said.
"We know our structures and what we're doing is right with all of our little processes and work we're doing here.
"Such as the players attitude and work ethic - that has been very good. We're in a very tough competition.
"What we've shown is that if we're off a little bit, we don't win games. We have to be on our game and that's the whole nature of the competition."
The Raiders will wear a special jersey against the Roosters to raise awareness for autism and funds for the Ricky Stuart Foundation.
"If you can't get up for the coach, you can't get up at all. So we better be able to," skipper Jarrod Croker joked.
"It's a great idea and it's a very important jersey for Ricky and the boys. He's very passionate about the foundation and so are all of the boys."
Stuart conceded it was impossible to fill the hole left by Queensland representative Papalii, who will be replaced by Joe Tapine and Sia Soliola in the back row.
But Croker was confident the Raiders had the depth to cover his absence for a crucial clash against the Roosters.
"It is tough, very tough [to replace Papalii]," Croker said.
"He's one of the form back-rowers in the competition this year and deserved his Queensland call up.
"But we've got Sia there and if you had to pick a leader to replace him, Sia's a pretty good options there on the edge so I'm sure he'll do a great job."
NRL ROUND 12
Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at Canberra Stadium, 4pm. Tickets available from Ticketek. The jerseys will be auctioned at allbids.com.au.
Raiders squad: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker (c), 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson, 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Joe Tapine, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Sia Soliola. Interchange: 14. Adam Clydsdale, 15. Luke Bateman, 16. Clay Priest, 17. Dunamis Lui, 18. Dave Taylor, 19. Scott Sorensen, 20. Brent Naden, 21. Lachlan Croker.
Roosters squad: 1. Michael Gordon, 2. Daniel Tupou, 3. Latrell Mitchell, 4. Mitchell Aubusson, 5. Joseph Manu, 6. Connor Watson, 7. Luke Keary, 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, 9. Jake Friend (c), 10. Kane Evans, 11. Ryan Matterson, 12. Siosiua Taukeiaho, 13. Zane Tetevano. Interchange: 14. Isaac Liu, 15. Lindsay Collins, 16. Chris Smith, 17. Mitchell Cornish, 18. Nat Butcher, 19. Victor Radley, 20. Eloni Vunakece, 21. Brock Gray.
