Raiders hooker Josh McCrone says Saturday's game against the New Zealand Warriors is a chance to rebuild the team's character, which was sorely missing during the Manly massacre.
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The Raiders head across to Eden Park to face the Warriors eager to make amends for their embarrassing 54-18 flogging at the hands of the Sea Eagles.
McCrone was one of four players on representative duty at the weekend, including Country teammates Jack Wighton and Paul Vaughan, and Queensland under-20s star Anthony Milford.
They avoided watching replays of the Sea Eagles game, but it doesn't mean they have forgotten the pain from that miserable day at Brookvale Oval.
The Raiders remarkably trailed 44-4 at half-time in one of the most one-sided games this season.
"Our character was tested and it didn't stand up against Manly,'' McCrone said.
''It was pretty embarrassing that scoreline. It's nothing we want to hide from. We were there and it happened, so it's a chance to rebuild this character.''
McCrone is realistic enough to know there is no instant fix to their problems.
"It's going to take a few weeks to build it back up,'' he said. "This weekend's game against the Warriors is a big opportunity to show people we're still a tough team and not mentally weak like we were against Manly.
''It starts at training, but you've got to take those habits on to the field. It slipped a fair way for that performance against Manly, but we've got confidence we can build it back up without too much drama.''
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart will name his team to face the Warriors on Tuesday.
One player keen to make the trip across the Tasman is winger Bill Tupou.
Tupou played 62 games for the Warriors in four seasons before joining the Raiders on a two-and-a-half year contract midway through last season. He said he was below his best against the Sea Eagles and knows players had every reason to be nervous about retaining their place in the side.
"Anything could happen after the last game, and for the [NSW] Cup players, they will be playing hard and trying to get a spot in first grade,'' Tupou said.
"Everyone's under the pump, so it'd be good to play this week. We got touched [up] last week [at training], we needed it, because we didn't have a game, but I think all the boys are revved up to get back on the field and redeem themselves.''
Other possible options on the wing are Sami Sauiluma and Jeremy Hawkins.
