North Queensland will hope to overcome an emotionally charged 48 hours when they run out onto the SCG for the first time in club history against a Sydney Roosters side gunning for some breathing room in the NRL top-eight.
The Cowboys were rocked when news broke of former premiership-winning coach Paul Green's death on Thursday as they prepare to enter their first finals series since his tenure at the club.
After four straight years neat the bottom of the table, coach Todd Payten has steered the high-flying Cowboys in 2022 to second on the ladder with four games remaining.
Payten said none of his players have opted out of playing in Saturday's contest following Green's death and they'll be inspired by the legacy he left behind.
"There's a fair motivation about what's ahead of us this weekend and who we're playing and what we're doing," he told reporters.
"It's been a difficult 24 hours as a club and as a group, we'll just have to put our arms around each other.
"But at the end of the day, I guess it's a good reminder of how fortunate we are to do what we we're able to do, and we'd like to perform well in Paul's honour.
Their opponents will look to maintain or increase their two-point buffer ahead of Canberra in a race for eighth spot as the NRL season reaches its pointy end.
Trent Robinson's Roosters are on a four-game win streak and will look to further that against a Cowboys side they comfortably beat 28-4 in round four.
Much has changed since their last meeting in Townsville, with the Tri-colours' form patchy in season 2022 while the Cowboys have won 13 of their past 15 games.
Roosters skipper James Tedecso will celebrate a milestone 200th NRL game and his coach said it's his dedication to the craft that is his best quality.
"He's an incredible player," Robinson said of Tedesco.
"He's pushed the limits in all of those 200 games. He's got a lot of petrol left in the tank as well. It's a real honour to coach him."
"The way that he can train really hard, he can execute finite skills really well, take in all the information coaches give him, deal with the external media and promotions an then come back into this really calm state and go and play. That's an absolute gift," he said.
"That's my favourite moment about Teddy, seeing how a week is in James Tedesco's life, and then seeing how freely he can go out there and play on the weekend. That's his gift."
