Roosters coach Trent Robinson was thrilled with how his side bounced back to beat the Rabbitohs, even if they had to do it without centre Billy Smith who he says is feeling \u201cembarrassed\u201d after he missed the game due to a head knock following an e-bike accident.<\/p>\n
Smith was ruled out of Friday night\u2019s blockbuster at Allianz Stadium due to an e-bike accident near the club\u2019s headquarters in Moore Park, with the strike centre dealing with a number of serious injuries throughout his career.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s led to calls for Roosters players to walk to training or to be given permission to park closer to their centre of excellence which is on the Moore Park Rd side of the precinct and a lengthy walk from the parking lot at Entertainment Quarter.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe fell off a bike and he\u2019s feeling embarrassed and he\u2019s feeling OK today, I guess,\u201d Robinson said after the match.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019ll be discussions around that, but you don\u2019t want to control all parts of life either. The footy team and people can be individuals, but a little bit better care might help get him on the field.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear at this stage exactly what happened to Smith, with the second level of Allianz Stadium near their centre of excellence full of e-bikes and scooters belonging to players and members of the coaching staff.<\/p>\n
Long-term parking is hard to find near their home base which is why they all park down the road and then ride to the centre of excellence. <\/p>\n
\u201cEver since we\u2019ve been there, we\u2019ve been sort of scootering and biking to and from training with parking and stuff, so it was just an accident,\u201d skipper James Tedesco said. <\/p>\n
\u201cNo one else really saw it or can sort of speak on it, but he\u2019s fine. It wasn\u2019t right to go for tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pre-game injury didn\u2019t overshadow their performance as they rebounded from a disappointing loss in New Zealand to spoil the party on a night Alex Johnston became the game\u2019s leading try-scorer.<\/p>\n
Veteran playmaker Daly Cherry-Evans stood tall in his second game for the club after copping plenty of flak for his defensive efforts last week, with the former Sea Eagle scoring the opening try and setting up the sealer for Tedesco. <\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he was really busy, but without overpowering,\u201d Robinson said. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe allowed a lot of the other guys to play. He really changed angles well, he distributed well.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still trying to find that combo, but I thought he pulled the strings a lot more tonight. And so I thought that was a really good step forward for him.\u201d<\/p>\n