After initially believing officials would ease back on their high-shot crackdown, Roosters coach Trent Robinson now feels the game's decision makers will "stay the course" and continue to sin-bin and send players off for hits to the head.
Three players were marched and a host more were given 10 in the bin in Magic Round as the referees took a harsher approach to foul play.
Aimed at reducing concussions in the game, the last-minute directive caught many players and fans by surprise and Robinson said he expected it to "recalibrate" given the backlash.
Though, having been a part of a meeting with the NRL on Wednesday, the three-time premiership-winning coach said it will be up to players to adapt or face the consequences.
"If we can reduce 30 per cent of the concussions by the way that we tackle and the height of the tackle then that’s a positive thing," Robinson said on Thursday.
"They’ve asked us to adapt really quickly, they’ve asked us to adapt within days of making that edict and we have to adapt, because they’re going to stay the course.
"They’re going to stay the course with any forceful contact with the head leaving the ground for 10 minutes or for the rest of the game and if that’s the case then we need to continue to adapt very quickly and individual players do as well."
Robinson confirmed he had spoken to his players as a group and some individually to ensure they stay on the field.
"I think they’ve openly said that anybody who adapts quickest will get an advantage and that’s the plan," Robinson said.
"There’s certain players in our game that tackle in a certain way and they’re going to have to adapt quickly and each team has a couple players like that and so the teams that adapt quickest will have their players on the park.
"There’s two things, you make subtle changes because that’s how humans change – you can’t all of a sudden do a backflip within a few days – but you start to make improvements in the way that you go about your defensive line and your tackle technique and you just have the individual discussions with players as well.
"But you also don’t want to jump at shadows, you want to play the game how we want to play as well, so finding the balance is important."
Robinson was speaking ahead of the Roosters' clash with Brisbane at the SCG on Saturday evening.
The club will use the fixture to honour the contribution of recently retired former captain Jake Friend.
After calling time on his 264-game NRL career earlier this year following the latest in a string of concussions, the champion dummy half has been added to the 'Roosters Legends Mural' in Waverley.
The 31-year-old joins Arthur Beetson, Brad Fittler, Anthony Minichiello and Boyd Cordner on the corner of Birrell and Council Streets and Robinson said it's a fitting tribute.
"They got Friendy and they got him smiling which was rare. It must have been after a game not during a game," Robinson added.
"It’s an amazing mural, I know there’s a few around and we’re really lucky to have a mural like this in the eastern suburbs."
Robinson added Friend overcame a difficult start to his career to become an exceptional leader and "the greatest tackler that’s played in the Roosters jersey, if not our game".
"I think he averaged 40 tackles a game for 260-odd games, that’s an achievement.
"It didn’t end the way that we wanted it to end for Jake, but he won’t be remembered by that, he’ll be remembered by the way that he played."
Particularly topical amid the high alert surrounding concussions in the game, Robinson was asked if Friend was too brave for his own good.
"Can you be too brave? He was too selfless, that’s what he was," Robinson added.
"It meant so much for him to wear that jersey and it meant so much for him to play with his teammates that he wanted to continue to push himself until he had no more and in the end it gave him a great career and it cut it short at the same time."
Following on from comments he made on NRL 360 earlier in the week, Robinson pointed out Friend's concussions mostly stemmed from the difficulties associated with tackling low in the modern game.
"Jake’s concussions weren’t from head highs for the most part. They were from head clashes or from low tackling," he said.
"I believe in where we’re going, I believe in the progress we’re trying to make towards concussion and the head high tackle is only a certain part of it.
"It’s not all of it, that’s not going to stop the way that a small guy has to play in our game and has to tackle in our game."
Friend's head knocks are just one of many injury dramas Robinson has had on his plate so far in 2021, though in a welcome reprieve, he was able to name an unchanged side for their round 10 win over the Cowboys.
"It was nice to sit in the sheds after the game and look at the doctor and the physio and get the all clear," Robinson said.
