Perrett farewells Roosters
Sam Perrett has farewelled his Sydney Roosters team-mates at their recovery session on Monday morning ahead of his expected mid-year switch to Canterbury.
Perrett, who played a leading role in the Roosters' drought-breaking 42-28 win over Wests Tigers on Sunday, is set to join the Bulldogs this week on a three-and-a-half year deal.
While the move is yet to be made official the 27-year-old is believed to have told his team-mates of the decision to leave the club at their recovery session at Coogee Beach.
he New Zealand international didn't take part in the session with the rest of the Roosters squad and was then seen hugging each team-mate afterwards in a clear indication he was on his way to Belmore.
Roosters prop Martin Kennedy knew nothing of the potential switch when he fronted the media before training but admitted the loss of Perrett would be a huge blow to the club.
"Sammy's always in great form and he's one of those players you love to play with," Kennedy told reporters on Monday.
"He's been at the Roosters since I've been there and has been someone I've looked up to.
"I'd definitely want to keep him around if I could.
"The boys have had whispers of it this morning when we turned up for recovery but we don't know.
"Sammy's a pretty honest guy and whatever is happening he'll tell us."
Perrett is expected to go and train with the Bulldogs as early as Monday afternoon and may play in their blockbuster against the Melbourne Storm on Sunday.
The acquisition of Perrett is a huge bonus for the Bulldogs who have suffered a number of injuries in the outside backs this season already.
Steve Turner (knee) and Tim Lafai (shoulder) are both out for the rest of 2012 while Bryson Goodwin (spleen) still has another six weeks on the sidelines.
And Perrett may not be the only one flying the Roosters coop before the end of the year with further reports utility Anthony Mitchell could also be released to take up a deal with North Queensland.
Despite the conjecture over the future of a couple of their stars, the Roosters are delighted to have kept their season alive with the win over the Tigers and are confident they can figure in the finals after closing the gap on the top eight to four points.
"We think we've got two wins up our sleeve between now and when finals time rolls around," Kennedy said.
"We definitely haven't lost any faith and I think having such a young side we're always enthusiastic and confident in what we can do.
"It was a good, dominant performance, in the first half especially, and the boys are treating it as a monkey off the back."
Interchange forward Lama Tasi added: "Everyone was writing us off so it was good to get a win.
"We've had a couple of close matches we should've won so to come away with a win yesterday our confidence levels will sky rocket.
"If we keep playing tough and consistent we knew things will eventually crack and yesterday we showed our true colours."
