By STEVE MASCORD
SOUTH SYDNEY’S chances of ousting Canberra in Sunday’s Sydney rugby league final will become clearer today when giant prop lan Roberts undergoes an examination of his troublesome groin.
Roberts yesterday returned from a four-month injury break in the Rabbitohs’ 20-10 loss to Balmain at Sydney Football Stadium but complained afterwards of soreness.
“The groin didn’t give out on me but it’s pretty sore,” Roberts said. “I couldn’t have lasted any longer. The groin was starting to hurt.”
Souths face a Canberra side bent on improvement from its 27-18 win over Penrith on Saturday.
Coach Tim Sheens slammed the players’ performance after the game and slapped on a media ban.
“We’ll be playing one of the fastest backlines in the competition,” said Rabbitohs coach George Piggins.
“They’re a very good side, they seem to capitalise on everything.”
If Roberts is ruled out, 17-year-old Jim Serdaris will pack down as hooker and Mario Fenech will revert to prop.
Raiders prop Brent Todd said even a Canberra win on Sunday would not convince him the current side was as good as the 1987 team, which lost the grand final to Manly.
“I never said this team was better and I won’t say it until we win the comp,” said Todd. “Individually we may have better players but overall we haven’t proven ourselves to be better yet.
“One thing’s for sure. if we play the same way we did against Penrith, we’ll get flogged.”
• North Sydney centre Kelly Egan, one of in the Bears’ rare success stories since he transferred from Valleys in Brisbane earlier this year,
will appear before the New South Wales Rugby League judiciary tonight on a spear tackle charge.
Egan was sent off in the 54th minute of the Bears’ 25-6 reserve grade win over Parramatta yesterday.
The win put Norths into their first grand final in any grade for 30 years.
“The way I saw it, it was not a spear tackle as such,” said Bears coach Steve Martin
“He just lifted him up and let him go, but we’ll have to wait and see what the video shows.”
AAP
This story appeared in the Brisbane Sun on September 11, 1989
