Coach Trent Robinson doesn't believe the presence of Brandon Smith will be a distraction as the Sydney Roosters look to lock down their NRL finals berth against bitter arch-rivals South Sydney.
After thumping Melbourne by piling on 40 unanswered points in the second half for a 40-10 victory at AAMI Park, the eighth-placed Roosters are well-positioned to hold out the chasing Dolphins and Manly.
Former Wallabies winger Mark Nawaqanitawase grabbed the headlines on Friday, scoring four tries to move past Melbourne's Xavier Coates as the competition's leading try-scorer with 20 for the season.
The Roosters' finals hopes could hang on a spicy final-round clash with Rabbitohs next Friday night at Allianz Stadium, with hooker Smith set to face his former side.
The Roosters have been dragged into Smith's off-field dramas with the Kiwi Test rake, who joined Souths midway through this season, facing charges of drug supply and an inside-knowledge betting offence.
Second-rower Victor Radley, who was on a golf trip in Queensland with six fellow Roosters players at the time of Smith's alleged drug supply offence, has reportedly been mentioned in police documents.
Robinson said there was too much on the line for his team to get distracted by Smith, who has avoided being stood down by his club or the NRL.
"When you coach someone, you always respect them and it doesn't matter what's gone on, he used to play for this club; you spend time with him, you care for him," Robinson said of Smith.
"I don't see that distracting us from what we're doing.
"I know that will be a story, I know there's a real interest in that, but I just see what we're trying to become as a team as more important than anything else that's going on."
Smith aside, Robinson was happy for his team to lean into the long-standing rivalry with their eastern suburbs enemies.
Souths sit 13th on the ladder but would take delight in also ending the Roosters' season.
"You've got to respect our rivalry, right? You can't tell them not to feel it, we're human beings and we understand what it means when those two jerseys play each other," said Robinson.
"It'll be great, the week will be great, the talk around it and all of that will be exciting and people will come through the gates and all of that.
"Our job is to play the best footy we possibly can ... we've crossed the line a few times in those games but our path's pretty clear - we know what we want out of this season and next week's critical for that."
