Canberra Raiders confident virus won't derail NRL title bid

John Bateman is the Raiders' second England international to be quarantined this week after he was struck down by a virus.

It forced him to miss training and the team presentation at Martin Pl in Sydney on Thursday.

But Raiders coach Ricky Stuart said he would be right to face the Sydney Roosters in the NRL grand final on Sunday.

Bateman's illness comes after Hodgson also caught a virus and missed Tuesday's training.

He's an important cog in the Green Machine's chances, having been named Dally M second-rower of the year on Wednesday night.

His arrival from the Wigan Warriors at the start of he season has been a revelation for the Raiders.

He's brought his winning mentality and is going for his third premiership in the past four seasons, having won two in the English Super League.

"He'll be fine. He's got a virus," Stuart said.

"We've got another room for Johnny Bateman. We try to quarantine the Poms as much as we can.

"No it won't [affect our preparation]. Not at this time of the year. The main thing is to get him healthy.

"From what I've seen this morning there'll be no dramas."

Stuart also confirmed Joey Leilua would play having completed the past two training sessions on his troublesome calf.

Leilua suffered a burst blood vessel in his leg last week and was unable to finish the preliminary final win over South Sydney.

Stuart was the halfback in all three of the Raiders' premierships and is now looking to end a 25-year title drought as coach.

He's called on the history of the 1989 grand final win, by celebrating its 30^th anniversary all season.

But part of that has been to enable the current squad to create their own history.

They made the preliminary final three years ago, but were narrowly beaten.

Now they're looking to finish off the extra step they've already taken.

They were boosted by Canberra lining the streets to send them off on Wednesday.

It's part of the finals fever that's engulfed the capital and turned it green.

"This is all about us this week. The boys have bought in and done a very good job of wanting that to be a part of our culture - that we understand and appreciate the past," Stuart said.

"But now this is about us. And I know the past will be thinking about us too."

While Stuart was part of the Raiders' golden era as a player, he felt it was much harder now to set up a similar dynasty.

They won three premierships in six seasons, while also playing in a losing grand final.

He praised the Roosters for being on the verge of winning back-to-back premierships.

It's something Stuart accomplished as a player in 1989-90, but trying to recreate another golden era was furthest from his mind.

All he's focused on is winning one game. Albeit a big one.

"I think those types of days are a lot harder and I think the Roosters have done a wonderful job in showing that consistency this season and getting back to this stage of the year," Stuart said.

"It's a lot harder nowadays because the whole competition's tougher.

"Every game's a tough game. There's no game that's given, but we're not thinking of eras. We're thinking of one game of footy."

Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary (ankle) was confident of playing, while coach Trent Robinson continued his ducks and drakes in regards to whether hooker and co-captain Jake Friend would play.

He said they wouldn't reveal whether he was in the team until an hour before kick off.

"He's going well. He was quite close last week and he's in the running again. That's why I put him in the 21," Robinson said.

"I expect him to train tomorrow and really test it out.

"He hasn't [played 80 minutes] yet, but Sunday night might be the night. We'll see how he goes."

NRL GRAND FINAL

Sunday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium, 7.30pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Raiders: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad 2. Nick Cotric 3. Jarrod Croker 4. Joseph Leilua 5. Jordan Rapana 6. Jack Wighton 7. Aidan Sezer 8. Josh Papalii 9. Josh Hodgson 10. Iosia Soliola 11. John Bateman 12. Elliott Whitehead 13. Joseph Tapine. Interchange: 14. Bailey Simonsson 15. Emre Guler 16. Corey Horsburgh 17. Dunamis Lui. Reserves: 18. Sam Williams 19. Ryan Sutton 20. Siliva Havili 21. Sebastian Kris.

Roosters: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Joseph Manu 5. Brett Morris 6. Luke Keary 7. Cooper Cronk 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Sam Verrills 10. Isaac Liu 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Mitchell Aubusson 13. Victor Radley. Interchange: 14. Angus Crichton 15. Zane Tetevano 16. Nat Butcher 17. Siosiua Taukeiaho. Reserves: 18. Lindsay Collins 19. Drew Hutchison 20. Jake Friend 21. Ryan Hall.