Anasta eager to prove himself - Sports News - Fanatics - the world's biggest events

Anasta eager to prove himself

28/01/2007 06:11:03 AM Comments (0)

Revitalised and injury-free Roosters and NSW Rugby League star Braith Anasta is determined to produce his best form for his club after a disappointing 2006 campaign.

Five-eighth-turned-lock Anasta was part of the 26-man preliminary NSW squad for this year's State of Origin which convened for a two-day training camp at Bondi beach this weekend.

Anasta played at five-eighth in the first two Origin games last year, but was dropped for the series decider.

He was dogged throughout the year by a groin injury he suffered in a pre-season trial and the Roosters recruit rarely displayed his best form for his new club.

He missed the last six rounds of the NRL competition after undergoing groin surgery, something he admitted he probably should have done sooner.

"I should have got it done a lot earlier, but I tried to play the season out and things just didn't work out for me," Anasta said.

"But I'm feeling a hell of a lot better now and I'm looking forward to the season ahead.

"I couldn't be happier at the moment, I've done everything and trained hard and I feel sensational at the moment."

He said he had trained at lock throughout the off-season under new Roosters coach Chris Anderson and was looking forward to playing permanently in a position he had only dabbled with previously.

"I played origin at lock, but that was only one or two games, that's about it," Anasta said.

"I'm looking forward to it, I feel comfortable there and I've always thought I'd go there anyway, so it should be a good opportunity for me.

"You can run the ball a lot more and just run around and do your own thing, which I think is probably a good thing for my game at the moment."

Anasta was presently more concerned with delivering the goods for the Roosters than adding to his list of representative honours.

"Representative footy is really not a concern for me at the moment, it's not even something I've thought about because I want to play some good football for the Roosters

"Last year was a pretty bad year and I want to turn it around and do the best I can for the club."

The NSW squad is scheduled to have a couple of video sessions and a swim before breaking camp.

The Blues lost last year's series 2-1 and faced the prospect of playing two out of three matches in 2007 in Brisbane.

NSW Coach Graham Murray was accustomed to handling the pressure which accompanied the job of trying the regain Origin supremacy from Queensland.

"You are always under the pump, whether it be at first grade level or at NSW," Murray said.

Brought to you by AAP AAP © 2024 AAP

0 Comments about this article

Post a comment about this article

Please sign in to leave a comment.
Becoming a member is free and easy, sign up here.

« All sports news