Roosters utility Connor Watson could not help but laugh when he was greeted by a chorus of boos on his return to McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle on Friday night.
After spending the previous four years playing for the Knights, Watson was not expecting Hunter punters to roll out the welcome mat for him, but he was amused as he waited on the sidelines to replace injured back-rower Nat Butcher in the 13th minute.
“It was pretty funny, hey,” Watson told NRL.com after playing a key role in the Roosters’ 42-12 win.
“As I started to go on, I heard it, and I was wondering, ‘Who are they booing?’ Then they put me up on the big screen, then everyone was booing me. It was hilarious. It was funny.
“I love the people of Newcastle. I didn’t take that personally. I can understand why, because they’re very passionate about their team, but I was thinking, ‘Righto, I’m keen as, now’.”
It took just five minutes for the former Newcastle fan favourite to turn the game against his old team, breaking through an Adam Clune tackle to make a long bust down the left edge before sending Luke Keary across for the opening try.
Welcome back Keary
It was one-way traffic for the next 50 minutes as the Roosters raced in another seven tries in a 42-point blitz before the Knights posted two consolation tries in the final seven minutes.
Covering multiple positions in the middle of the field, Watson ran 10 times for 137 metres and kept the ruck tidy with 41 tackles. At various stages, Watson, Egan Butcher and Victor Radley plugged holes usually filled by bigger bodies, doing all their coach Trent Robinson asked of them.
“What Egan Butcher and Connor Watson have done for us in the middle of the game there, then huge parts of the second half, they’re showing a different way to accelerate play,” Robinson said.
“For a good stint there, we had Victor, Connor and Egan Butcher on, so who’s playing front row out of those? ‘Rads’ is still out of the scrum, so does that mean Connor and Egan are playing front row?
“But again, it doesn’t matter. They’re accelerating play, they’re moving across the ground fast, they’re defending with physicality as well, and they’re speeding up the ruck both in attack and defence, so I’ve really enjoyed watching those two guys play the game.
“It’s been a huge benefit for the way that we’re trying to play.”
After four years at the Knights, where he formed solid friendships with his teammates, Watson agonised over the decision to return to the club where he began his NRL career in 2016.
“I’ve spoken about this before but I just felt that for me to take the next step in my career, this was the best place for me,” Watson said.
“I love Newcastle, I love playing here, and I love the boys. They’re some of my best mates.
You don’t get long to play at this elite level, and there’s things that I want to do, and I just felt like coming back to the Roosters was the best opportunity for me.
Connor Watson
“I’ve just started to see that over the last couple of months of footy. I feel like me personally, I started the year a little slow, but I was adjusting to a new club.
“I feel like now that [Sam] Verrills is back, and it’s allowed me to go back to playing in the middle, it’s freed me up and now I’m playing some of my best footy.”
Consecutive comprehensive victories over the Knights and Dragons have propelled the Roosters past Manly into eighth position, courtesy of a superior points differential.
Tedesco domination
Though the Roosters face a challenging series of games heading towards the finals, starting with the Sea Eagles at 4 Pines Park next Thursday, Watson senses they are running into form when it matters.
“I feel like the last couple of weeks we’ve been building, playing a lot better as a team, and really working out our style,” he said.
“We’re not in the position that we want to be, but we’re still in a pretty good position to make a run for it.
“All we can worry about is playing our best footy now and, as cliché as it is, just worrying about week by week."
