Undermanned and without all of their first-choice wingers and centres, the Roosters are adamant their injury toll won't come back to bite them against Melbourne at AAMI Park.
Of the 17 Roosters who will take the field in Friday night's do-or-die semi-final, 11 of them have played in reserve grade this year.
Some had brief stints.
Brandon Smith played one game coming off the bench on return from a hand injury while Sam Walker was briefly dropped in April and played games either side of an ACL injury.
For others it has been the majority of their season.
Fetalaiga Pauga scored 21 tries in 17 games for North Sydney before getting his chance in the finals, while Siua Wong was a constant for the last-placed Roosters in NSW Cup.
This is the Roosters in 2023, one of the glamour clubs of the NRL who so often bank on their lesser lights in big finals matches.
"We talk about working in the shadows," coach Trent Robinson said.
"So when no one's watching, what work are you doing?
"And guys like Corey Allan or Paul Momirovski, they've been meticulous all year. Whether they have been in rehab, reserve grade or first grade.
"They work and work and work. They've been ready. It's just we haven't seen it on the big stage, but they've been preparing for this for a long time."
Momirovski's comeback for this semi-final is most impressive.
While the Roosters lost Joey Manu, Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii and Billy Smith this week, Momirovski is only now fit to play in the centres again after suffering a shoulder injury in round nine.
Others have taken equally tough paths with train-and-trial deals commonplace for those without contracts.
Winger Pauga was last summer handed a train-and-trial opportunity with the Roosters at age 27.
Drew Hutchison also joined the Roosters on the same kind of deal in 2019, as did prop Terrell May last year.
"There's a lot of guys like that," Robinson said.
"They were on $1000 a week just to get going with no money behind that, and it could drop off in a week.
"They don't have a full-time job. They don't have a base salary. And they just go 'okay, I could be going back to nothing'.
"And then the hunger that provides ... guys either can't do it and fall off. They're not good enough.
"Or guys go like Terrell did. Terrell went from 120kg to 105 within the pre-season before he got to us. And just went I'm hungry to do this."
It's why Robinson and the Roosters have not been in panic mode through their injury crisis.
"A lot of people have been talking about who's not there," Robinson said.
"We spend all week talking about who is there and their qualities and what they bring.
"They can bring their strengths, which sometimes in some areas are better than the two Joeys."
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