Brandon Smith hospitalised in scary development after Roosters victory

Brandon Smith was taken to hospital as a precaution after suffering a worrying neck injury in the Roosters' win over the Warriors on Sunday. The Roosters hooker left the field late in the game at Mt Smart Stadium, with trainers showing concern for his neck and head.

The club then requested a doctor and paramedic pay a visit to Smith in the dressing rooms. He later left the ground in an ambulance after being taken from the dressing rooms on a stretcher, wearing a neck brace.

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The Roosters told NRL.com that the hospital trip was a precaution, and Smith said he was feeling ok. He was expected to undergo scans, with the Roosters hopeful he has avoided serious injury.

Smith earned high praise from coach Trent Robinson for his ability to set up the game-clinching try to Sitili Tupouniua. "He (Smith) has brought a lot of energy for us. It takes a while to understand a new club system ... he's started to imprint his runs and kicks into the game," Robinson said.

Smith's iniury comes at an ill-opportune time, after the hooker had drawn criticism for his performances early in the season following his switch from Melbourne. The New Zealand international was just starting to find some form after learning the new systems at the Roosters.

Trent Robinson rapt with defence after Roosters win

Robinson described his side's 14-0 win as "a really pleasing game" considering the dreadful conditions. The Roosters have struggled away from home all season and lost all three of their previous matches outside of Allianz Stadium in Sydney.

"I felt the calmness for the first time this year on the goal line," Robinson said. "If we didn't do that, we would have offered momentum. They had field position but they didn't have momentum, which was the difference. We continued to control that. Fourteen-nil, I'll take that in Auckland."

Robinson was full of praise for his team in a game that was affected by the constant heavy rain throughout. "It's easy to discuss it as a coach, it's hard for these boys to go out and do it. I can ask for it but it takes a good, honest group of players to forget all the pretty stuff and dig in. I'm just really proud of the players," he said.

The Warriors were without captain Tohu Harris and in-form fullback Charnze Niccol-Klokstad, but Robinson still regarded them as a real threat. "They still had their spine in order, so they still had a lot of experience there," he said.

"Tohu Harris is probably the key out in the way they've decided to play the pack this year. But a lot of the wraps have been on Wayde (Egan) and Shaun (Johnson) and we did a really good job on them tonight."

The win lifts the Roosters into fifth place, while the Warriors are down in eighth after their second-straight loss. "We're gutted we didn't get the result," said Warriors coach Andrew Webster.

"I felt like we had enough ball to win tonight, so I'm not frustrated about that part. I knew it was going to be the case that we weren't going to be perfect. I wish we'd iced a couple of tries. We dropped the ball over the line but to their credit they came up with some really good defensive effort to stop us."

with AAP

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