Elliott floored reporters on Wednesday when he quoted Chinese military strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu on the challenge that awaits them Saturday against a New Zealand team with just three wins, and coming off a 60-point drubbing by the Storm last week.

"Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, the book, he says to never underestimate your opponents," Elliott said.

"That's something we definitely can't be doing this week. They'll be coming out and playing their best game of the season, so we've got to be ready for it, and we've got to play our best too."

Elliott was coy when asked if coach Ricky Stuart had used the 5^th century BC text in their team meetings this week, instead hinting that "another team and another coach" was the source.

"It goes a fair way back ... but I'm not going to talk about them," Elliott smirked, clearly referring to the only other NRL club he's played for - Canterbury.

Although Tzu's message stuck with him, the former Bulldog said he's not normally the type of athlete that leans on inspirational quotes from notable people.

The 27-year-old revealed he prefers to come up with his own.

"I'm a writer. I have a little book that I write in," he said.

Elliott was too shy to share any of his work, however with the Raiders sitting second-last on the ladder after the Panthers handed them their fourth-straight defeat, he and his teammates will need more than words to turnaround their form slump with the halfway mark of the season fast approaching.

And they know it.

"It's a must-win this week, a must-win next week as well," Elliott said, with his former club next up after the Warriors.

"You've got to get on a bit of a roll. It's that part of the season where you want to start building some momentum particularly for the middle-half when things like Origin come around.

"So it's really important that we win the next two or three games."

At Redcliffe for the New Zealand showdown Elliott will be coming off the bench once again, with Corey Harawira-Naera joining him on the interchange. Last week's debutant Harry Rushton was dropped and fellow Englishman Elliott Whitehead will return from injury.

The Raiders co-captain was welcomed back to the starting lineup just over a week after a horrible head clash at training required immediate plastic surgery.

Whitehead flaunted a shark teeth design on his mouthguard at Raiders HQ this week, and didn't appear to hold back despite the gruesome injury that badly split his lip and saw braces needed to re-align his teeth.

"I don't know if it's grills or something he's hiding under there but he had the mouthguard out nice and early," Elliott said.

"Even last week he wanted to play. There were probably a few medical issues around that ... but he's definitely super keen to get back out there.

"He's our captain and the boys love playing with him, and he knows that, so he was really excited to be back on the field, and he'll be pumped for the game."

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