Roosters five-eighth Jordan Sharpe now knows what the countless masses know: having a parent as your boss is like being in a dream where the teacher keeps calling your name despite your hand not being raised. But he’s not complaining – not one bit.
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“It’s a bit different. He’s probably the hardest on me, more than anything,” Jordan, 23, said when asked about his relationship with his father, Geoff, since the latter became Kootingal-Moonbi coach this season. “But no, it’s really good. He knows what he’s talking about. He’s pretty smart my dad. We’ve got a real good relationship, me and my dad.”
It could be a case of Geoff needing his son as much as Jordan needs him. Both are perhaps facing their biggest league challenges as Kooty takes on the big boys after moving up from the now-defunct second division this season. Geoff, a detective sergeant known for pushing players hard at training, made Jordan vice captain.
“I’ve challenged him this year and he’s responded,” the mentor said. “He’s probably fitter than he ever has been. And he was outstanding for us the first two games. His kick-chase is awesome at the moment, so he’s going well.”
Geoff admitted that he “sort of switches off” and doesn’t think of Jordan as his son while coaching him. “Him and [captain] Sam Taylor are the main leaders on the field. But he’d [Jordan] tell you I don’t give him too many favours.”
It’s a case of so far so good for Kooty. An opening round 40-20 away win over Boggabri was followed by an upset 30-20 home defeat of reigning four-time premiers North Tamworth last weekend.
Geoff – who captain-coached the Roosters between 2008-11 before coaching the club's league tag side to three straight premierships the past three years – will look for Jordan to build on his promising halves combination with new signing Taylor against the Magpies at Werris Creek on Saturday.
Jordan is as tough as teak. His father said he had got tougher the older he got. “He’s pretty tough,” Geoff said, adding that Jordan’s best quality as a player was going “way into the line” to do his “ball-playing”. “There’s not a lot of fear there,” he said.
“He got hammered by Shane Wadwell about three or four times last week, but kept getting up,” Geoff added. “And to his credit, I think he probably put the tackle of the match on Shane Wadwell in the first half.”
