Glory can ruin your hope, says Keary

SYDNEY Roosters star fiveeighth Luke Keary has made a stunning admission ahead of tonight’s opening-round blockbuster against his former club — revealing how the glory of South Sydney’s droughtbreaking 2014 premiership went to the players’ heads.

Keary opened up to News Corp about the internal motivation now driving the NRL champs to become the first team in 26 years to claim backto-back titles.

The match between rugby league’s oldest enemies will have special significance for Keary, who pretty much had his papers marked at Souths after his infamous run-in with Russell Crowe.

But the move to the Roosters has taken his game to another level, with Keary now regarded among the game’s truly elite playmakers on the back of his Clive Churchill Medal winning grand final performance.

Keary reflected on his time at the Rabbitohs, and said he won’t fall into the same trap twice.

“I’m telling you, in this competition, the minute you think you are good or that you are going good it will chop you straight back down,” Keary said.

“I remember at Souths as a kid we obviously won (the premiership).

“You look at our next two years (when the Rabbitohs finished 7th and 12th) and I can look back now at the attitudes and the way we looked at ourselves and who we thought we were.

“We had a very, very steep fall.”

Keary said the message at the Roosters heading into this season was simple: “You build a foundation, don’t go and waste it.

“Go out and make something of it. It is not about backto-back.

“It is about you do everything in your power every game to put yourself in the best position to win, mentally, physically and even spiritually.

“You have to tick every box to give yourself the best chance of winning every week.

“And if you can put yourself in that position obviously the footy gods decide if it is your day or your year.”