"I think Jake has been our best performer on a couple of occasions, then he had a game he didn't want to have last week," Robinson said on Wednesday. "A couple of players have said it, it's really hard for us after (Friend's) 200-odd games, and the way Jake plays, he's our captain and our captain for a reason, and there are a lot of things he does in a game people don't see and we do. "We've had a chat. Jake is a man now. He understands what he wants out of the game. We've had a look at last week, and a lot of it is because we're trying to do lot of things right, and sometimes over-trying in some areas. "That same character will stand up again. He's stood up for over 200 games, and people know when they stand next to Jake what they will get ... we'll continue to trust him." Victor Radley has played with energy when brought off the bench for Friend, but Robinson said: "Victor is a very good young player, he's a local player, he knows his role and it's to support Jake.

"Jake just doesn't stop. You'll see 90 per cent of players at different times in their career make a decision based on how they're feeling. "He's the No.1 guy I've ever coached who just goes, it's not a decision for him, and if it needs to be done, he'll do it. "The way Jake moves [off the ball] and selflessly for the players around him, he covers other players' workloads, it's incredible. I've seen it for all of my games here in charge as a coach and as an assistant coach, and our players know it. "You won't get a bad word out of the players because they know he's looked after them at some stage. Loading

"So a bad performance, you won't hear a player talk badly about Jake because they know he's been there over 200 games watching their back." Robinson said the forwards had been unfairly blasted every week - but said last week it was warranted - and the finals loss to North Queensland last season still fresh in the minds of a lot of critics, which led to "blanket statements". Friend, meanwhile, told Fairfax Media earlier this month he met with Robinson about reducing his minutes so he was more potent in attack. "I haven’t been attacking as much as I want to and that’s been because of a big defensive load and playing big minutes,'' Friend said. "I’m looking forward to a little bit less time. If there’s a stage throughout the year if I have to play 80 minutes then I’m happy to do that. We’ve got someone like Vic who can come on and go to lock and do his thing.