The first time housemates Luke Brooks and Mitch Moses faced off against each other, it was Moses who earned bragging rights. Now Brooks is looking to heap further pain on his winless ex-teammate when the impressive Wests Tigers host the last-placed Parramatta Eels on Easter Monday.
"It would be good to get one up over Mitch. Last year he got one up over me so hopefully we can return the favour," Brooks smiled on Tuesday at a media session at the Easter Show adjacent to ANZ Stadium.
"I'm sure we'll come up against each other in a tackle sometime during the game. I hope so!"
It would be a fair coup for Brooks and his upstart Tigers, who are a chance to go 3-1 despite the unfancied squad kicking their season off with matches against last year's top four finishers.
One of those included a win over his other housemate, James Tedesco, in round one – the first time the former Wests Tiger cubs had been on opposite sides in a Telstra Premiership game.
"We don't talk about [football] too much, on the field there's not too much banter either," Brooks said of the trio's rivalry.
He also hadn't reminded Tedesco of the round-one result since. "I was being a good bloke about it!" he laughed.
While Brooks was playing peacemaker, minutes later sidelined Eels back-rower Brad Takairangi was happy to throw kindling on the fire from the sidelines.
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"Mitch is going to pump him apparently," Takairangi dead-panned.
"I think he's coming in for a couple of late shots so I'm looking forward to it!"
Asked about the footy side of things, Brooks said Parramatta's horror opening three rounds would be no indication of what to expect from them on Monday.
"They'll come out firing, they haven't had the best start but they're a great side, they've got some great footy players," he said.
It was a view shared by his likely halves partner Benji Marshall, who is hoping to get through a training run on Saturday in a bid to play Monday despite rolling his ankle last weekend against Brisbane.
"Every time in my career we've lost three games in a row, you always end up coming out firing and playing a good game after three," Marshall said.
"They'll be fired up. It will be a day game, nice and warm hopefully and they're pretty dangerous.
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"Anyone who thinks it's an easy game is in for a shock, it's going to be a tough game, they've got a great forward pack and we're going to have to match that but we're not expecting we're just going to turn up and win because of what's happened the first three weeks.
"If we turn up and play the way we played on the weekend [against Brisbane] we'll lose."
Train travel to and from the game is included with all tickets to Monday's match with up to four children aged 12 and under admitted free with pre-purchased adult GA tickets.