Canberra skipper David Shillington admits there are plenty of motivating factors going into Sunday’s NRL clash with Newcastle but none bigger than giving Raiders fans something to cheer about at home.
Brilliant in a 36-4 NRL win over Cronulla last week, the Raiders prop says a dreadful performance two weeks ago when beaten 38-26 by Gold Coast at Canberra Stadium was something he is desperate not to replicate.
The Raiders were booed off the ground and the Queensland forward admitted it stung the Canberra players.
“For myself, I’ll be using (the Titans game), the not-so-distant memory of it, as motivation,” Shillington said
“Obviously the memory of how much everyone was hurting after that Titans loss here last time, and how much the fans were upset – there’s plenty of motivating factors there.”
The Raiders know they must be ruthless against the Knights and adopt a do-or-die attitude as they look to keep their finals hopes alive.
Canberra and Newcastle sit on 20 points just outside the eight and a win on Sunday would be massive for the Raiders who have been heavily criticised for some indifferent displays in 2012.
“It is semi finals-type footy now, because when you’re in the semi-finals you have to win them all to keep going. That’s the mentality we’ve got,” he said.
“We’ve got six games left … and we need to win all six of them … Newcastle has the same mentality, so it shapes up to be a pretty good game.”
Raiders coach David Furner said the team are in good shape with prop Dane Tilse a chance to return from a rib injury.
The Knights – who have speedy backs Akuila Uate, Dane Gagai, Darius Boyd in top form – are chasing three wins in a row after impressive victories over premiers Manly and grand finalists the Warriors to get their spluttering season back on track.
“I think it just comes down to attitude, full stop. Regardless of whether you’re playing at home or away, if you don’t have that in this competition, you’ll get beat,” Furner said.
“I think (Newcastle) are going to throw a lot more than we got thrown at us (last) weekend.
“They’ve got a lot of strike power … but if we’ve got the right attitude, we’ve put ourselves in a good (position) to one – defend it and two – to win the game.
“The win from last week … has given us an opportunity to be in the hunt.”