No more napping, Keary warns Roosters

Star five-eighth Luke Keary says a top-of-the-table clash with Melbourne is motivation enough to bounce back from their NRL capitulation against Manly.

Luke Keary of the Roosters celebrates after scoring a try

Luke Keary says the Sydney Roosters will have to be at their best to compete with Melbourne. (AAP)

Playmaker Luke Keary has warned teammates there can be no more napping if the Sydney Roosters hope to keep their NRL minor premiership hopes alive with a bounce-back victory over Melbourne.

One plays two as the Roosters chase redemption on Saturday on league's toughest road trip.

The Roosters are smarting from Sunday's 36-18 capitulation against Manly, when they leaked 24 unanswered points after seizing control early.

Trailing the Storm by four competition points with only four rounds remaining, the Roosters know winning is non-negotiable against the NRL's benchmark outfit.

"We'll find out where we're at on Saturday," Keary said on Thursday.

"We were disappointed in our second half on the weekend and this is obviously a big test for us.

"We just lost the momentum there before halftime and we just didn't get it back."

Despite the setback, there's no panic stations at Bondi Junction, with the Roosters likening the lapse to their 44-12 loss to Cronulla in round 17.

Trent Robinson's men had won three straight since before falling to Manly and Keary insisted morale remained high.

The classy No.6 is refusing to believe the hype that the Storm, led by Queensland and Test superstars Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith, are looking invincible heading into business end of the season.

"They're definitely not unbeatable," Keary said.

"They're a very good footy team and they haven't looked like getting beaten over the last couple of months - but they're definitely beatable."

As evident by the Roosters' 25-24 golden-point triumph over the Storm in round 16.

"You've got to play your best footy, you've got to complete high and you've got to be on defensively," Keary said.

"Obviously they're going to throw a lot of tricks at you with Smith, Slater and Cronk.

"You've got to be on. You can't have a day off. You need 17 blokes to stand up that are all on at the same time."

Ahead of the Storm clash, the Roosters have been boosted by news that NSW State of Origin winger Blake Ferguson has finally signed a new one-year deal for next season.

"I've already signed it, so I'm ready to go next year. So yeah, pretty good. Pretty happy with it.

"I just needed to get the final details done and I finally got it done in the last couple of weeks," Ferguson said.


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Source: AAP



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