Canberra Raiders playmaker Blake Austin says the club's non-representative players must lift to match the intensity of their returning stars for a Thursday-night blockbuster against the St George Illawarra Dragons.
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The Raiders' representative contingent jumped on a private jet after playing in the City-Country fixture on Sunday to fast-track their recovery for a brutal four-day NRL turnaround.
The limited preparation threatens to drain the energy of big props Shannon Boyd and Paul Vaughan, putting extra onus on the Canberra reserves to lift their work rate.
Jeff Lima is also back at training after fracturing his hand at the end of March.
But Austin says it's the players who didn't get a crack in the representative games who need to increase the tempo as the Raiders attempt to entrench their spot in the top eight.
"Personally, I think we'll probably have to match it [with the players coming back], I think they're going to comeback with plenty of confidence," Austin said.
"They played in a pretty entertaining match in Tamworth and Aidan [Sezer] had a good match, he should take a lot out of that. We'll have to match their enthusiasm."
Sezer, Boyd, Vaughan, Jack Wighton and Canberra skipper Jarrod Croker are all available for selection to play the Dragons despite their lack of recovery time.
The length of time between matches has been the source of frustration for many NRL clubs this year after the competition introduced a regular Thursday-night fixture.
The Raiders are playing their first Thursday-night match and they get to do it against bitter rivals the Dragons.
The Raiders have surrendered their hoodoo against the Dragons in recent seasons, losing the past three matches between the clubs after suffering just one defeat between 2002-2013.
But the Green Machine insist their only focus is ending a run of up and down form that has seen them lose three of their past five games.
Austin says he has fully recovered from a hamstring injury and the extra week off allowed him to get back to full fitness after an interrupted start to the year.
His injuries have delayed the much anticipated combination with Sezer, who was described as the best half on the field in the City-Country match in Tamworth on Sunday.
Austin and Sezer have played just four games together and have only played back-to-back games once as a combination.
"It's been super frustrating for me but hopefully Aidan can bring back some confidence from his performance in Tamworth. I thought he did really well and was probably the best half," Austin said.
"I think for him that was good and I think he'll bring that back to us. We've probably given ourselves a pass mark [as a team] for the first part of the season but we probably would have liked to perform a bit better over a consistent period.
"Leading into the next little block of games, it's really important to start with a win against the Dragons on Thursday."
Injuries to Sia Soliola and Lima have opened the door for 21-year-old Luke Bateman to try to cement his spot in first grade.
Bateman has played four games this year and vowed to increase his workload to help Vaughan and Boyd if the giant pair were running on empty.
"I definitely see it as a challenge to really step up and play my best footy to make sure I've got the best chance of staying in the team," Bateman said.
"Sticky [Stuart] has talked to us about everyone needs to lift [for those rep players] to take them with us ... we have to carry them if they need it."
NRL ROUND 10
Thursday: St George Illawarra Dragons v Canberra Raiders at Jubilee Oval, 7.50pm. TV time: Live on Fox Sports 1 and Win.
