Blake Lawrie is still riding high after celebrating good mate Zac Lomax's 100th NRL game by helping St George Illawarra Dragons record a statement win over the New Zealand Warriors last Friday night.
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On Monday Lawrie said the Dragons though had already turned their attention to putting in another good performance against the Sydney Roosters on Anzac Day.
Should St George Illawarra beat the Roosters on Thursday at Allianz Stadium they will end a 600-day wait for three victories on the trot.
Having won three of their last four games the Dragons now enjoy a 4-3 win/loss record heading into their traditional Anzac Day clash against the Roosters.
Lawrie said St George Illawarra players didn't need any extra motivation to get up for the "special occasion".
"It was really important for us to beat the Warriors and get back to back wins for the first time in a long time but it's all about doing well against the Roosters now," he said.
" Anzac Day is a special occasion.
"I've been a part of quite a few games and it's not hard to get up for these games, trust me it's really easy to get up for this game, there's so much emotion in the air. I'm excited for the challenge.
"Once that whistle goes there's no excuses you have to be ready to go and do a job for your team.
"It's a really emotional day and your emotions do go up and down but as soon as that first whistle goes, you're ready to go."
Lawrie admitted it was also an emotional time during the week leading up to good mate Lomax's 100th NRL game.
In the lead up to the Warriors game when Lomax was presented his 100th game jersey, the Parrammatta-bound back thanked among others Lawrie for his friendship through good and bad times.
"To get 100 games, I think we played nearly 100 games together, so we've been together ever since he came into first grade. We have got a really good bond, we hang out a fair bit outside of training, so we are very close mates so to go out and get a team win to make it more memorable for him was good," Lawrie said.
"He gave a little shout out to me and he got a little emotional which made my eyes water a bit too.
"He's playing great football and he is putting his professional football ability first and everything else behind him. It's a credit to him how well he has handled himself in training and obviously on the stage on game day.
"Credit to him, he's a special bloke, he's a special talent and it's impressive.
"He trains very hard, he demands respect by how hard he trains, he is the fittest by far. He's a good bloke around the training paddock, his work ethic is second to none.
"He backs himself and always tries to better himself. It's a credit to him how well he is handling things.
"He has had his challenges but the way he's handled himself, he's playing career best footy and he's gone out there and he hasn't let his teammates down, he hasn't let the club down and most important he hasn't let himself and his family down.
"He is a guy that is open and honest with you."
Lawrie added he was sad to see Lomax leave the Red V at the end of the season but he just wanted his mate to be happy.
"As a mate first before a team-mate I just want to see him happy," he said.
Lawrie added Lomax was focused on helping the Dragons enjoy success this year.
"We played really well against the Warriors. I'd say it was a really strong 80-minute team performance from our squa," he said.
"We scrambled on our try line really good for the first 10-15 minutes, they probably could have got two or more tries but they didn't. Credit to our boys we were out there scrambling and having each others' backs and having that resilience.
"We're starting to show our DNA of what we've been trying to build for the last couple of months.
"It's good we're starting to show glimpses of what we're all about. It was a good team performance for 80 minutes. It's the first time we stuck to our game plan for the whole game.
"It's important we continue to do that against the Roosters."