Daniel Tupou has credited a heart-to-heart chat from former representative star Craig Fitzgibbon for his stunning hat-trick in the Sydney Roosters' 26-12 win over Canberra, after backing up from Wednesday's State of Origin.
Tupou was impressive in his NSW debut in the Blues 12-8 win and showed again against the Raiders why he is one of the NRL's premier wingers, crossing out wide for two tries and claiming a third with his trademark leap.
Afterwards Tupou revealed 11-time NSW representative, 18-time Kangaroo and Roosters assistant coach Fitzgibbon sat down the Roosters Origin trio - himself, Michael Jennings and Aidan Guerra - on Friday for a pre-game pep talk.
"Fitz, gave me and Jenko and Aidos the talk yesterday about the importance of backing up for the team," Tupou said.
"To hear that advice from him gave us that push to go the extra mile.
"He said what a test it is and it shows how good you can actually be after backing up from a game like that
"It was physically draining, but it is good to come back and reunite with the boys and get the win."
Roosters coach Trent Robinson paid tribute to Tupou's effort.
"He was backing up for the first time in his career, he has never played rep footy, so it was a big game for him and he really delivered," Robinson said.
"I'm really proud to see a young kid back up like that and do what he did.
"He has got a good package on his game, he knows what works for him and he goes out there and does it each week."
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Topic: Tupou credits Fitzgibbon for hat-trick
