Alan Tongue speaks to Will Swanton about a sad loss and a gritty victory on the eve of the Raiders' clash against the Roosters today.

The Sun-Herald: You didn't train before the Dragons game last Sunday but it wasn't because of your busted ribs, right?

Alan Tongue: I actually spent the whole week in Tamworth. My cousin had passed away, and I was up there from the previous Saturday. The funeral finished at four o'clock on the Friday afternoon before we played the Dragons. I drove back to Canberra and didn't get back until about one o'clock on the Saturday morning. I went to training at nine o'clock to see how the ribs were. I got through reasonably well.

I don't know how much of this I should talk about. It might be revisiting memories for the family up there. But look, my cousin was travelling to see her boyfriend and she was killed in a car accident at 20 years of age. It was a real shock and a very emotional time. I had to be in Tamworth, I wanted to be. It was just something I needed to do with my family. It's my dad's brother's daughter who died. We had neighbouring properties when I was growing up, so we were all pretty close.

S-H: Rough week . . .

AT: With everything up in Tamworth, and the ribs, it seemed like nothing was not going too well. We got a win so I finally got a smile back on the face. I was nowhere near 100 per cent but [Raiders coach Neil Henry] said if I was 60 or 70 per cent, he'd have me out there. I was lucky enough to get to that stage. I hate not being a part of it. The worst-case scenario - you get a needle before the game. You get used to that. Neil said if you can't get through the warm-up, we can just pull you out at the last second. But in my mind, after getting through the Saturday morning training, I was preparing myself to play. There was the usual bit of local anaesthetic from the doctor but by the end of that game, I was pretty knocked about and sore. You've just got to get through it. Complaining about sore ribs - it's not much to complain about, really.

S-H: Do painkillers last a whole game?

AT: They're meant to, but I was questioning it. I came off with 12 minutes to go. I said to Neil, "Mate, do you want me to go and get it re-needled?" You shouldn't need to, but it was hurting. I'd aggravated it [and] it was pretty stirred up. But most people are playing with injury at this time of year. Pretty much from game one you pick up something. You don't always hurt something as tender as a rib but most guys have niggles, corks, bumps and bruises. That's just a weekly hassle you have to put up with.

S-H: Plenty of people say you're the toughest bloke in the NRL. What do you say?

AT: Not true, mate. Being a smaller bloke, I probably have a tendency to get knocked around a bit. Unfortunately I've had a few injuries, the busted nose last year and a few other bits of bad luck. But if you scouted the books at all the clubs, you'd find a lot of guys line up to see a doctor before a game. The amount of pain guys put themselves through in the NRL is remarkable. The public probably don't realise that. It's not all beer and skittles. They don't see guys doing whatever they can to get on the park for their team. I'm just very grateful to be playing in the NRL. Whether it's playing for the Raiders or going to training, maybe it's just me, but I just hate missing any of it. I just feel incredibly honoured to be able to play for the Raiders.