Rugby league Immortal Andrew Johns believes star Roosters playmaker Luke Keary looks “underdone” amid the Tricolours’ difficult start to season 2022.
The Roosters have struggled coming out of the gates, winning just one of their first three matches, and head into Saturday’s match against the Cowboys following a heavy loss to the arch-rivals the Rabbitohs last weekend.
Worrying the eighth Immortal is the form of the three-time premiership-winning playmaker, Keary.
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Keary missed the bulk of season 2021 due to an ACL injury, which he suffered in March last year.
“Luke is underdone, he’s come back from the knee injury,” Johns said on Wide World of Sports’ Immortal Behaviour.
“I can speak from experience, knees mentally are so hard to come back from.
“I would give him another month-to-six weeks I think until he will be hitting anywhere near 100 per cent.”
Johns is no stranger to coming back from an ACL injury after he suffered the same fate as Keary in 2004.
Speaking on recovering from a serious knee injury, Johns said it was a battle that robbed him of his confidence during the twilight years of his career.
“You look at Ray Stone last weekend when he stepped and it just went … it is extreme trauma,” Johns said.
“You have nightmares about it. After I did my right knee, I never stepped off it again.
“It was in the back of my mind, I had no confidence in it. I reckon it took me eight rounds to have any confidence back.
“It’s a really hard injury to come back from, especially as a halfback when your game is built around footwork, change of direction, change of speed.
“Talking about Luke Keary, it might take another six weeks, but he will get back there.”
But in defence of Keary, Johns spoke about the Tricolours’ recent lineup changes.
Keary’s absence last season was part of a decimated injury list at the club, with the likes of Drew Hutchison, Joey Manu, Luke Keary, Lindsay Collins and Siosiua Taukeiaho all recently returning to the squad having all missed time in 2021.
The club also lost two stalwarts over the off-season, with both Boyd Cordner and Jake Friend forced into premature retirements due to repeated head knocks.
While Keary’s absence paved the way for the emergence of teen star and fellow playmaker Sam Walker, Johns believes part of the Roosters’ struggles are due to those mounting changes inside the line-up.
“It’s all new combinations. Keary’s played three games with Sam Walker – Tedesco hasn’t played with those two combinations,” Johns added.
“They’ve had Connor Watson at dummy-half, they’ve had Drew Hutchison there. All those combinations.
“You can’t get away from it, they’re a year older. No one beats father time. You’re only put on this earth for so many bumps as a footy player.
“It’s a challenge for the Roosters. I think they will come good … I don’t think they can win it, but I think they will make the eight.”