‘He’ll be a beast and he’ll kill it’: The behind the scenes traits that have Roosters players crowing about Robert Toia’s Origin debut

Teammates have backed Roosters rookie Robert Toia to “kill it” on Origin debut, with Victor Radley confident the inexperienced centre can handle his daunting individual battle with Latrell Mitchell. It took Toia just six minutes to show the world why the Roosters had spruiked his talents for so long as he recovered from two serious knee injuries and a broken jaw to finally make his debut against the Broncos. With one of his first touches, Toia broke through, fended away from Roosters legend James Tedesco and set up Dom Young for the opening try with a play that likely caught the eye of Queensland coach Billy Slater. Injuries to Murray Taulagi and Selwyn Cobbo have opened the door for the 20-year-old to make his Maroons debut after just 10 NRL appearances, with Toia no stranger to the Origin arena having represented the under-19s in 2022. “He’ll be a beast and he’ll kill it,” Victor Radley said. “For how hard he’s worked, it’s good to see this come for him so soon in his career. It’s well deserved. “You never see that kid with his head down despite everything he’s been through. He’s always in the gym working hard, and it’s all paying off now. “Whenever you speak to someone, they tell you that hard works comes first and foremost; he lives that and it’s great to see him get his chance.” Siua Wong was the first player to graduate from the Roosters Academy into the NRL and is proud of Toia, who will be the first to play Origin after going through the system. Roosters players have lived together in Kingsford through their journey, with the pair playing reserve grade together last year before they linked up on the right edge in the NRL where they’ve both had outstanding starts to the season. “Everyone that is close to him and has seen him play knew that Origin was going to be in his future, but we didn’t realise how soon it would come,” Wong said. “I think that’s a credit to how hard he’s worked. “Over the past 10 games he’s been able to showcase his talent, but the one thing Billy said was that he liked his principles, and I think that’s something that’s very underrated about his game. “He’s able to work in those areas that people who watch the game might not be able to see, but he definitely does what’s best for the team. “Any time he gets ball in hand, everyone can see how good of a player he is. “But the one area of his game that’s underrated is his work ethic. It’s one thing in this game to have talent, but it’s another to back it up with all the little things.” Toia has come across as softly spoken in the few interviews he’s done this year, but Radley has warned the Blues that there’s more to him than meets the eye as the young gun prepares to take on his idol and former Rooster, Latrell Mitchell. “He’s got the skills and the physical attributes to do it, and then his mindset will also help,” Radley said of the Mitchell match-up. “He’s shown since round 1 that he can do it, and by all reports Billy picked him because of how hard he works off the ball. “I feel like his work ethic and his physical attributes are good enough and will get him over the line. “In the media, everyone think he’s a quiet kid. But he’s really loved in the team and he’s funny. Once you get to know him, he opens up. “He’s got a good crew here at the Roosters with the young guys who came through together, and they’re hilarious. He’s a legend and his humour is probably the biggest thing that people don’t see.”