Keary, Friend bid for return to give Roosters 900-game boost in experience

The Roosters' captain Jake Friend and star playmaker Luke Keary are bidding to lead more than 900 first-grade games of experience back into the premiers' line-up to arrest their mid-season slump against Wests Tigers.

Friend (ruptured biceps) and Keary (concussion) will push for returns from injury ahead of schedule for Friday's clash at Bankwest Stadium, with the pair to be assessed based on how they pull up from Monday's training session.

Trent Robinson will name his 21-man squad for round 16 on Tuesday, with Kiwi Test prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves (hamstring), veteran English flyer Ryan Hall (personal matter) and Tongan tyro Sitili Tupouniua (illness) all certain inclusions.

Keary is firming to return in the halves as well after sitting out the last month following a heavy head knock against Newcastle that cost him a NSW Origin debut.

The Clive Churchill medallist had originally targeted next Sunday's home game against the Cowboys on the Central Coast for his comeback date, but has passed all return to play protocols and completed three weeks of contact training unscathed.

Friend is considered less likely to take on the Tigers, but remains a chance after playing through a ruptured biceps muscle on Anzac Day.

The Roosters co-captain spent the first month of his recovery with his  right arm immobilised, but has since progressed from running three weeks ago to full-contact training as well.

Between them Friend (241 NRL games), Waerea-Hargreaves (208), Keary (122) and Hall (321 Super League and three NRL games) boast a wealth of much-needed experience for the Tricolours, who have won just one of their last five games.

"[Keary] has been a pest," Waerea-Hargreaves quipped when asked about Keary's recovery.

"The first few weeks he was recovering but he's back to himself now and being the annoying sort of guy he is.

"I guess he'd be itching along with Jake Friend there who's pushing the limits and doing everything he can.

"To see us older boys there isn't the best but we're doing everything we can to get out on the pitch."

Waerea-Hargreaves sat out last week's nail-biting loss to Melbourne with a hamstring strain picked up playing for New Zealand.

Despite the two-point loss to the Storm in Adelaide, the Roosters found more positives in that performance than several of their wins earlier in the season, Waerea-Hargreaves taking pride in the emergence of the club's latest batch of rookies.

"It's been hard but it's also been a positive sign to see the younger guys the way they've come through and play the way they've been playing," Waerea-Hargreaves said.

"They played well against the Storm on Friday night so to see these guys grow is a positive sign. Obviously for us guys not playing, it hurts to be sitting on the sidelines.

"But at the same time we take the positive out of anything and to see these young boys grow and we're really looking forward to our next match."