Mat Rogers will continue to improvise for the Waratahs when they take on the Cats at Aussie Stadium on Friday.
The converted fly-half returned as a substitute for the New South Wales outfit in Saturday’s 31-16 victory over the Sharks after spending time away from the sport to mourn the death of his father, former rugby league international Steve Rogers.
His injection into last weekend’s game immediately energised an otherwise lacklustre Waratahs attack, with Rogers producing some crafty play that had the opposition dumbfounded.
Indeed, Rogers claims if he sees a chance, he goes for it, regardless of what he or the team may have been told by coach Ewen McKenzie.
"I class myself as an instinctive player, and if I see an opportunity in front of me, I am going to take it, regardless of what the coach or anyone says," Rogers told The Sydney Morning Herald.
"That’s the way I play football. Ewen understands the way I play, and I’m sure he welcomes that."
Given his natural talent at reading plays and his instinctive spark, this mentality doesn’t irk McKenzie, who understands Rogers will do more good for the team if he plays his own style of game.
Rogers missed a lot of training during his time off and had just two sessions with his Waratahs team-mates before playing against the Sharks, when the dual international relied on his footballing intuition.
"Last week, to be honest, I went out there and they were calling plays I didn’t even know," Rogers said. "I literally had no idea what they were. NSW had come back from South Africa and I had two training runs and played, so it was pretty hard to digest all that information I needed."
Rogers is back in the starting line-up against the Cats on Friday night and will be hoping to guide the Waratahs to their fourth victory in five starts.
