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ON Monday morning young Roosters star Boyd Cordner fronted the Country Origin medical with a busted AC joint in his shoulder, a torn ligament in his foot and a gruesome gash across his head.
Roosters coaching staff didn't want their 20-year-old vice-captain to go any further.
But unlike the cast of players who decided to sit out this Sunday's annual clash and rest their wounded frames, Cordner demanded to play.
At that moment the passion and mystique surrounding this much-maligned fixture was revived.
After injuring his shoulder in the Foundation Cup trial match against Wests Tigers, Cordner was almost convinced to have surgery that would have sidelined him for three months.
Instead, he chose to delay the operation and slog through this season on daily physio sessions and weekly painkilling injections.
His lifelong desire to represent Country was a significant reason why.
"This was one of my goals at the start of the year," Cordner said. "Speaking to the (Roosters) coaching staff, they weren't too happy.
"They wanted me to have the week off and my priorities are with the Roosters.
"But I wanted to play this game so bad because it means so much to me.
"Growing up as a kid I always dreamed of doing this."It's a dream that sprouted from a nightmare the Taree product will never recall.
At just four years of age, Cordner lost his mother, Lanai, to breast cancer.
In her absence, his father Chris - a former lower-grader with Illawarra and Canterbury - raised two boys alone."Thinking back, I don't really have any memories of her and that pisses me off," Cordner said. "But I still think about her every day, no matter what I'm doing.
"A special occasion like this makes me so grateful for what I've achieved. I don't take anything for granted.
"That's why it's so important I achieve my goals, and this year making the Country team was my main one."
Had Roosters coach Trent Robinson ordered him to withdraw, the goal would have been left unfulfilled for at least another 12 months.
"That's what makes Trent the coach he is and the bloke he is," Cordner said.
"He understands the players and he understood how much this meant to me. This is the type of bloke I am.
"Why wouldn't you want to play in game like this?"
Robinson made no secret of the fact that he would rather have Cordner off-limits this week, with the club concerned about the long-term detriment of pushing a young player so hard.
"I would have preferred him not to play in this," Robinson said. "Getting needled every week is not ideal at this early stage of his career."I don't think it's wrong for me to try and protect a 20-year-old kid for the future.
"But the reason Boyd is this type of player is because he wants to play. So I was never going to ask him to pull out.
"If I did that, it would change the essence of the player and the fabric he's made of.
"In some ways we could be unlucky that he's playing, but in others we're lucky because we've got a bloke like this who can handle pressure and play through the pain.
"I had to respect that and in the end he's playing.
"It's a credit to him."
ON Monday morning young Roosters star Boyd Cordner fronted the Country Origin medical with a busted AC joint in his shoulder, a torn ligament in his foot and a gruesome gash across his head.
Roosters coaching staff didn't want their 20-year-old vice-captain to go any further.
But unlike the cast of players who decided to sit out this Sunday's annual clash and rest their wounded frames, Cordner demanded to play.
At that moment the passion and mystique surrounding this much-maligned fixture was revived.
After injuring his shoulder in the Foundation Cup trial match against Wests Tigers, Cordner was almost convinced to have surgery that would have sidelined him for three months.
Instead, he chose to delay the operation and slog through this season on daily physio sessions and weekly painkilling injections.
His lifelong desire to represent Country was a significant reason why.
"This was one of my goals at the start of the year," Cordner said. "Speaking to the (Roosters) coaching staff, they weren't too happy.
"They wanted me to have the week off and my priorities are with the Roosters.
"But I wanted to play this game so bad because it means so much to me.
"Growing up as a kid I always dreamed of doing this."It's a dream that sprouted from a nightmare the Taree product will never recall.
At just four years of age, Cordner lost his mother, Lanai, to breast cancer.
In her absence, his father Chris - a former lower-grader with Illawarra and Canterbury - raised two boys alone."Thinking back, I don't really have any memories of her and that pisses me off," Cordner said. "But I still think about her every day, no matter what I'm doing.
"A special occasion like this makes me so grateful for what I've achieved. I don't take anything for granted.
"That's why it's so important I achieve my goals, and this year making the Country team was my main one."
Had Roosters coach Trent Robinson ordered him to withdraw, the goal would have been left unfulfilled for at least another 12 months.
"That's what makes Trent the coach he is and the bloke he is," Cordner said.
"He understands the players and he understood how much this meant to me. This is the type of bloke I am.
"Why wouldn't you want to play in game like this?"
Robinson made no secret of the fact that he would rather have Cordner off-limits this week, with the club concerned about the long-term detriment of pushing a young player so hard.
"I would have preferred him not to play in this," Robinson said. "Getting needled every week is not ideal at this early stage of his career."I don't think it's wrong for me to try and protect a 20-year-old kid for the future.
"But the reason Boyd is this type of player is because he wants to play. So I was never going to ask him to pull out.
"If I did that, it would change the essence of the player and the fabric he's made of.
"In some ways we could be unlucky that he's playing, but in others we're lucky because we've got a bloke like this who can handle pressure and play through the pain.
"I had to respect that and in the end he's playing.
"It's a credit to him."
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