As Rabbitohs coach Jason Demetriou cleared five-eighth Cody Walker to take on the Sea Eagles, he confessed his gratitude that the opening of the NRL season wasn’t a day earlier.
But Demetriou is grateful not because Walker needed the extra 24 hours to get over a calf injury - it’s because of the impact the fan fest at Fremont Street on Thursday night had on his players.
“It’s phenomenal; I got excited about coming here and playing the game but getting to the fan fest last night … it was just incredible to see that amount of people in there,” Demetriou said.
The energy in that fan fest was just incredible and the players got on the bus pumped.
Jason Demetriou
"I’m quite happy it was two nights before the game and not the night before - we would have wasted a lot of energy.
“You have a sense of privilege that you get the opportunity to come.
“(The game) is going to have some real energy in it if the fan fest is anything to go by.”
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The South Sydney boss hosted his captain’s run media conference well away from training at the Rabbitohs’ hotel and they’re the only team involved in the Allegiant Stadium double-header not to train in front of the media in Vegas, leading to speculation that Walker may still be struggling.
On Walker, the coach offered: “He’s fine. He’s trained all week.
“Obviously he’s a really class player.
“I was happy he was able to get the training done in San Diego. That was important for his prep to get a full week of training done for round one.
"It’s got him in a good head space and he’ll benefit from that. “
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The Bunnies coach also played down concerns over a dip on the edge of the in-goal areas, saying: “I walked around the whole ground and I didn’t notice it too much.”
Demetriou plans to coach from the stands in the first half “depending on how high it is - I’m not a great fan of heights.”
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