Tupou trying to move on from fright of his life against Raiders
The last time Daniel Tupou took on the Raiders, he left the field on a stretcher.
The Roosters winger was caught in an awkward, crusher-type tackle and immediately felt for the top of his head.
The two minutes after he reeled away from the tackle in pain were the scariest Tupou has endured in his eight-year career.
As the Roosters medical staff were trying to gauge what kind of injury Tupou was dealing with, the seasoned winger could not feel any sensation in his left arm.
"For a couple of minutes it just went numb," Tupou said.
"I couldn’t feel anything and it took a couple of minutes to get my feel back.
"It went numb and I couldn’t feel one of the physios, who was trying to grab my hand.
"It was pretty scary for the first couple of minutes but once I got my feeling back it was all good."
Some mental demons have lingered in the months since Tupou returned from the scare, though he has done his best to not dwell on what could have been a far more serious injury.
"It was pretty scary. I’ve never been in a situation like that. I still think about it," he said.
"That’s football and you just have to toughen up sometimes. You have to learn not to get into that position again.
"I knew I had my head in a bad situation. You sort of learn from that. I try not to dwell on it because that’s the past and I just have to move on."
For Tupou, moving forward means focusing on the Roosters' tantalising clash with fellow top-four contender Canberra on Sunday afternoon at GIO Stadium.
A wayward Origin period for the premiers has since been set straight after flogging the Knights, barely leaving second gear to beat the Bulldogs and thumping the Titans.
But the Raiders are arguably the form team of the competition and Tupou must provide critical metres in the Roosters' half as he did against the Gold Coast if they are to send the near sold-out Canberra crowd home unhappy.
The softly spoken Roosters winger is quietly enjoying one of his most prolific metre-eating seasons, having taken that responsibility personally since Blake Ferguson left for Parramatta.
"He left a massive hole for us to work on and ever since he’s gone, I feel like I’ve had to fill in his shoes," Tupou said.
"I worked on it during the off-season and the pre-season and I’m loving it."
Having the lure of James Tedesco to worry opposition defenders out of committing completely tackles certainly helps Tupou, too.
"Obviously Teddy and the way he plays makes our job a lot easier," he said.
"We just feed off each other’s runs and at the moment, it’s working.
"I still think we have more in us and that’s where we’re headed.
"We are heading in the right direction. We’re happy with where we’re at."