Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad isn't interested in what those outside of the Canberra Raiders camp are saying.
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The fullback is focused on what his side needs to do come gameday against the Melbourne Storm in Wagga Wagga.
And there is a lot to do, given the 13 errors the side made on the weekend in their 25-6 defeat against Manly.
Canberra's set completion rate, which fell to less than 44 per cent against Manly in the second half, is second last overall in the NRL at only 69 per cent. The Storm sit second on the ladder and are coming off a 44-0 thumping of the Canterbury Bulldogs, so any mistake could cost the Raiders on Saturday.
"I don't really buy in too much to what the media is saying, everyone's entitled to their opinions, just like I am," Nicoll-Klokstad said.
"And I back myself, I feel like I'm a pretty good fullback and I feel like I'm building nicely [but] there's a few things in my game that I'm looking to add.
"As a team, if you don't hold the ball, you don't give yourself an opportunity. So it's a major focus for us. We've got one of the worst completion rates in the competition, and right there and then we're not giving ourselves any opportunity to play any good footy.
"Whoever steps into the jersey, they're gonna do a good job if we can clean up our completion rate."
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NSW Origin coach Brad Fittler called for the Raiders to add Xavier Savage to their starting squad to inject some speed into the backline against the Storm, as he felt Ricky Stuart's first choice was yet to return to his best.
Nicoll-Klokstad fumbled two kicks during the side's loss last week, but Stuart has kept faith in the 26-year-old.
Stuart has named an predominantly unchanged 24-man squad to make his final pick from to face the in-form Storm, with Adrian Trevilyan and Sam Williams out, and Harry Rushton and Jarrod Croker added.
The young Blackpool second-rower is yet to earn his debut for Raiders, and Croker is working his way back into the NRL squad after injury.
Nick Cotric looks set to stay on the wing for the Green Machine on Saturday, following his return last week to fill the void left by Sebastian Kris. Kris remains out of selection contention once more due to COVID isolation rules.
The 23-year-old Cotric made his return against Manly last week, after missing two weeks with a quad strain.
"[My quad] felt good, it wasn't too sore so that's a good sign," Cotric said.
"So hopefully I can just stay on the field as long as I can and stay injury free."
In addition to set completion and keeping errors to a minimum in their game, one area that did not pay off for the Raiders in round four was offloads.
They managed 24 offloads to Manly's seven, but the scoreline did not reflect their usual capitalisation of the play. Cotric said it should be a different story this week.
"Nine times out of 10 those offloads come off," he said. "It's just one of those things I guess, that's just footy.
"You get a hand to it or whatnot and it's just a drop ball, but we'll fix those little things up."
AT A GLANCE
Round 5:
- Saturday: Canberra Raiders v Melbourne Storm, 3pm at Wagga Wagga
Canberra Raiders squad: 1. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, 2. Nick Cotric, 3. Matt Timoko, 4. Semi Valemei, 5. Jordan Rapana, 6. Jack Wighton, 7. Brad Schneider, 8. Josh Papalii, 9. Tom Starling, 10. Joe Tapine, 11. Hudson Young, 12. Corey Harawira-Naera, 13. Elliott Whitehead (C), 14. Matt Frawley, 15. Emre Guler, 16. Adam Elliott, 17. Corey Horsburgh, 18. Xavier Savage, 19. Ryan Sutton, 20. James Schiller, 21. Harry Rushton, 22. Jarrod Croker, 23. Trey Mooney, 24. Peter Hola
Ins: Harry Rushton, Jarrod Croker
Outs: Adrian Trevilyan, Sam Williams