Interim Dragons coach Ryan Carr's focus is on nothing but helping the side to a win over the Roosters after a tumultuous week at the club.
The Dragons will host the Sydney Roosters at Netstrata Jubilee Stadium on Friday night in their first clash since parting ways with Anthony Griffin.
Carr, who was an under-20s star before injuries resulted in an early end to his playing career, is adamant that the team applies its full focus to the next task at hand.
“It’s been a big week for the club and everyone involved,” he said.
“As a team, we’ve just got to try and get on. We’ve got a job to do tomorrow night, so it’s just really important we keep focused on that. We’re looking forward to getting out there and trying to get a win.”
Carr was pleased with the response of the players during the week and is confident in their ability to put together a good performance to celebrate Indigenous Round on Friday.
“They understand that each day we’ve got to take one at a time now. We can’t focus too far ahead; all we can worry about is the Roosters tomorrow night,” he added.
“All we can do is our best and best is good enough at this club and, these players, I’ve got a heap of belief in them. We’ve got a lot of talent here. They’ve got to enjoy their footy, so I just want to see them go out there and compete really hard, work hard for each other, show how much they care for each other.”
Carr has opted to recall Zac Lomax and Jacob Liddle after the pair missed out on selection over the previous two weeks.
“We’d sort of been planning to bring them back in this week," Carr said.
"Those two boys have done a really good job and had a great attitude in going back to Cup and they played really well on the weekend.
“That’s the message we’re trying to send here as a team and as a club, you know – you play well, you’re in the team. If you don’t, we just have to work on some things back in Cup.”
Despite facing a Roosters side that they lost a one-point heartbreaker to less than a month ago, Carr is keeping the focus inwards throughout preparations.
“It’s been a real big week just to focus on us. If we start focusing on the opposition too much and getting caught up in that then we forget who we are,” he said.
“It’s just a real good opportunity this week to go out and put our DNA out there on the field and show everyone who we are as a team.”
