Raiders won’t buy-in to Storm wrestle talk

If Melbourne want to play rough, halfback Aidan Sezer says Canberra will happily return serve.

But the Raiders refuse to add their voice to the chorus of complaints about the Storm’s wrestling tactics ahead of their NRL grand final qualifier on Saturday.

North Queensland have alleged that three of their players, including back-rower Ethan Lowe, injured their necks as a result of the minor premiers’ ruck techniques in week one of the finals.

Coach Ricky Stuart avoided any criticism after his side’s semi-final final win over Penrith on Saturday, and his players followed suit on Monday.

“At this level every team is rough and you’re always sore,” Sezer said.

“Hopefully our boys are rough, too, to them.”

Raiders enforcer Josh Papalii said there was a simple way to counter Melbourne’s much-maligned wrestle: to run hard.

“If you run hard, then that’s not going to come into play,” he said.

“We’ve just got to try and be better than Melbourne at what they do.”

Fullback Jack Wighton said he had no concerns about getting injured, agreeing that running over the top of the opposition was the best way to avoid any trouble.

“I think they’re fine – I haven’t been hurt by them,” he said.

The preliminary final, the Raiders’ first in the NRL era, pits the league’s best attacking outfit against its best defenders.

The Green Machine have had the upper hand of late, winning three of their past four clashes at AAMI Park.

They also beat them 22-8 in round 23 at GIO Stadium.

But Sezer admitted the Storm weren’t at their best – attacking-wise – that game and said this weekend was an entirely different prospect.

“It’s playing to get in the grand final, so they’ll be at their best and hopefully we’ll be at our best,” he said.

“But we don’t want to go down there and play into Melbourne’s hands and just play a bit of boring footy.

“We want to test them and hopefully play a bit of Raider footy.

“You can’t hold back in these games; you’ve only got one shot at it.

“We’ve worked hard all year to give ourselves this opportunity so hopefully we can go down there and put in a good performance.”

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!