Raiders skipper David Shillington has warned his young squad not to believe the hype, admitting a better team than the Cronulla Sharks would have ''put us away'' in the first week of the NRL finals.
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The Australian prop also played down his heavyweight rematch with Rabbitohs enforcer Sam Burgess, admitting he let the English import get under his skin in their only clash this season.
Expectation has exploded at Souths this year, with Australian rugby league's most famous club still searching for their first finals win in 25 years and their first premiership since 1971.
In contrast, the Raiders have exceeded all external expectations by winning nine of their past 11 matches to charge into the second week of the NRL finals.
But Shillington dismissed suggestions the Raiders had nothing to lose and the Bunnies were carrying all the burden of pressure into Saturday's semi-final.
''It actually feels like the pressure's getting more and more for us because people are starting to ask if we can go all the way,'' Shillington said.
''I just feel like we weren't up to where we needed to be in the Sharkies game. We played good in patches, but a better team would have put us away I reckon.
''But if we can play well against Souths this weekend and have a more complete 80-minute game then I can start commenting on whether we can go all the way.
''We'll need to be better if we're going to compete with better sides … we're not red-lining at all, but we'll need to find that improvement if we're going to compete.''
One of the keys to Canberra's victory over the Sharks last weekend was back-rower Josh Papalii's role to target and unsettle Australian lock Paul Gallen.
Shillington said the Raiders could not afford to be baited by the same tactics from the Bunnies this weekend.
Shillington uncharacteristically lashed out at Burgess in Canberra's 36-18 loss to the Rabbitohs in round 12 after the English import fired a verbal barb. Shillington played down the incident after the game, claiming Burgess had called him a ''geezer'' and it was a ''spur of the moment'' reaction.
''We had a few words,'' Shillington said. ''I took out his brother [Luke Burgess] half a second late, hit on suspicion. He was just protecting his brother, no hard feelings and he's had a few run-ins with other people since then. I think he had a run-in with his Pommy mate James Graham too, the next week. That happens in footy.
''Each team's trying to unsettle the other team, especially if there's an enforcer amongst the middle-edge of the field. Like we saw last weekend, it was a great battle between Papa [Papalii] and Gallen. This weekend someone like Papa comes up against someone like Dave Taylor or Sam Burgess, [Roy] Asotasi, [Mick] Crocker. There's plenty of aggressors out there.
''It'll definitely be a fiery clash, they've got some big aggressive forwards, so do we. It'll be a clash I'm looking forward to.''
Raiders utility Shaun Berrigan, a veteran of 18 NRL finals, expected both teams would thrive on the pressure.
''[Souths] probably under-performed a bit last weekend, they would have got a few nerves out. It was a bit of a scratchy performance from them, so they're going to bring their A-games this week,'' Berrigan said. ''I don't think the pressure's off us at all, we understand what's at stake. Most good teams and players play better when the pressure's on.''