Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart has challenged his squad to be more resilient or run the risk of being put to the Newcastle Knights' sword.
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The Raiders have been on the wrong end of tight games more than they would have liked and Stuart says there is "a number of things" they have been working on to turn that record around.
But resilience is the key word for the Green Machine when they travel to Newcastle to face the Knights at Hunter Stadium on Sunday.
Stuart wants his side to "keep in the fight" for 80 minutes because as long as they do that, they have the strike power to get the job done.
The Raiders played out two golden point thrillers against Newcastle last season and if history repeats another nail-biter could be on the cards.
Despite a poor record the Knights have often started well, leading both Stuart and Raiders captain Jarrod Croker to say a repeat of their effort against the Canterbury Bulldogs won't be enough to get the job done.
Croker says Canberra's energy was not up to scratch leading into the representative round, and a week off could be the perfect tonic for the Raiders to return to their lofty standards.
"It's important to go with them and match them in their enthusiasm," Stuart said.
"That's the really important factor this week because they are such an enthusiastic bunch of guys. [Knights coach Nathan Brown] has them up and ready to play each week.
"Their enthusiasm comes from their desire and comes from their age because they are a young team."
But the Raiders themselves boast a relatively young forward pack, with Sia Soliola the man to thank for boosting the average age in the starting line-up.
Stuart has called for the Green Machine's big men to show mental toughness and do all the little things right, because Newcastle's young guns are out to prove a point.
"It's not a matter of wearing them down just purely through physical force," Stuart said.
"It's a matter of being able to stay in the game mentally, by [showing] the resilience and through being good at all the little areas of your game - completing your sets of six, not having a lot of missed tackles and being good in all the small percentage plays of your match."
A Jordan Rapana try in golden point was all that could separate the two sides last year after their first meeting in Newcastle ended in a stalemate.
The Knights responded with a 44-0 thumping of the Raiders in a pre-season trial this year, but that is no cause for concern in the Green Machine camp.
The bulk of Canberra's first grade players either didn't play or were on limited minutes in the Seiffert Oval trial, meaning neither side can afford to take much out of the game.
"The lesson we've learnt from the Knights over the past 12 months is that we've got a game on our hands," Stuart said.
"We've had two golden point games with the Knights. They're a very young, enthusiastic team and Nathan has them up every week.
"They're not going to be a game to take easy or take lightly because I know that they'll be fresh and playing in front of their home crowd, they're always a better team."
NRL ROUND 10
Sunday: Newcastle Knights v Canberra Raiders at Hunter Stadium, 2pm. TV time: Live on Fox Sports 2.
Raiders team: 1. Jack Wighton, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Jarrod Croker, 4. Joey Leilua, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Blake Austin, 7. Aidan Sezer, 8. Junior Paulo, 9. Josh Hodgson , 10. Shannon Boyd, 11. Sia Soliola, 12. Elliott Whitehead, 13. Luke Bateman. Interchange: 14. Adam Clydsdale, 15. Dunamis Lui, 16. Clay Priest, 17. Joe Tapine, 18. Scott Sorensen, 19. Jordan Turner, 20. Dave Taylor, 21. Zac Santo.
Knights team: 1. Brendan Elliott 2. Ken Sio 3. Dane Gagai 4. Peter Mata'utia 5. Nathan Ross 6. Brock Lamb 7. Jaelen Feeney 8. Daniel Saifiti 9. Danny Levi 10. Josh Starling 11. Sione Mata'utia 12. Sam Stone 13. Luke Yates. Interchange: 14. Anthony Tupou 15. Joe Wardle 16. Jack Stockwell 17. Jacob Saifiti 18. Trent Hodkinson 19. Tyler Randell 20. Josh King 21. Lachlan Fitzgibbon.
