Off-contract Canberra Raiders five-eighth Aidan Sezer is refusing to let an uncertain future play on his mind as he looks to rescue the Green Machine's finals hopes.
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Sezer's deal expires at the end of the season and he has been linked to Canterbury - his junior club - following rumours of unrest in the capital.
But he is adamant that wasn't the motivation behind his brilliant return to form against the Bulldogs, although he may have some incentive to impress against the Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium on Saturday.
The 26-year-old will oppose Parramatta star Corey Norman, and it is believed the Raiders made a move to sign the rival five-eighth but the Eels were not prepared to release him.
Contract negotiations have stalled with a handful of Canberra's stars following a dismal start to the year but Sezer says he isn't feeling the pressure of playing for his future.
"No, not really, [it hasn't been on my mind]. We’re players and we leave those kinds of things up to our managers," Sezer said.
"We’ll see how we go, we just need to play some positive footy and get a few wins on the board for the club. I think all that stuff will take care of itself.
"It’s a good positive vibe at training so hopefully we can take up where we left off on Thursday.
"We won, [the mood at training] is the total opposite of when we lose. We prepare all week to win and when you lose, it’s a spanner in the works. It’s a good vibe but it’s only one win and we know we’ve got a lot of ground to make up."
Canberra's desire had been called into question with some of rugby league's greatest minds labelling the group "mentally weak" in the wake of a horror start to the season.
But forward Dunamis Lui says there are no dramas for the Green Machine brotherhood on the field after they reached what he hopes is a flashpoint in a gutsy win over Canterbury last week.
"[The forwards] knew we were going to get more minutes, but with the other boys going down, we didn’t know that was going to happen," Lui said.
"It was pretty good for us, all the boys turning up for each other. Now we’ve set the bar pretty high so we’ve just got to continue on from that.
"Now we know we can [put in that effort every week], so we can all trust each other a bit more there.
"The way everyone hung in there and stayed tough together. I reckon we even bonded together as brothers a bit more too there I reckon.
"It was good to see everyone step up and a lot of the boys had to play in different positions. For all of the boys to step up and really take on those roles, it was good.
"The way everyone turned up for each other, we all bonded together more as brothers on the field."
NRL ROUND SIX
Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Parramatta Eels at Canberra Stadium, 7.35pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.
