Brayden Jerrard has taken his game to another level this season, says Geoff Sharpe

For when he was tempted to join the Manilla Tigers this season, his Roosters coach, Geoff Sharpe, made him an offer he could not refuse.

"We had a few boys leave and go to Manilla, and he was thinking about it," Sharpe said of the lightweight speedster.

"I said, 'Mate, if you train hard, you play first grade here - it's up to you. "To his credit, he's trained hard."

Jerrard has mainly played wing this year, but was moved to fullback in a loss to Dungowan last round.

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At Kootginal on Sunday, he will play five-eighth when the fourth-placed Roosters host third-placed Moree.

The positional change occurred after Johnny Seabrook was moved from five-eighth back to second-row to cover losses in the pack.

Josh Kevill (ankle), Brendon Austin (head knock) and Jacko Brookman (work) will miss the encounter.

"So we'll give him a crack there," Sharpe said of Jerrard. "He's a good little ball-player, and he's been around for a long time.

"He's fairly zippy. So we'll play him at six and see how he goes."

Jerrard, the veteran mentor continued, had "really matured this year".

"His talk's good a training, and his talk's good in the game, and he keeps the defence on their toes," Sharpe said.

Sharpe added: "The boys love having him. He's gone really, really well.

"We've got a couple of good reserve-grade wingers who can't get a start because him and Dylan Clark are playing so well."

Sharpe was livid after the Roosters' 34-16 away loss to the Cowboys last start. The post-match blast he gave his charges was "not suitable to go into a newspaper", he said.

Kooty were leading 12-0 when Dungowan captain Brett Jarrett was sin-binned, with the home side dominating from that point.

"We took our foot of the accelerator when Jarrett was sin-binned," Sharpe said. "We just thought it was gonna happen."

Sharpe rates first-placed North Tamworth and second-placed Dungowan the teams to beat. "Everyone else is just chasing them," he said.

On Saturday, Dungwon travel to Werris Creek while Gunnedah travel to Boggabri. On Sunday, Norths host Narrabri.

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