Although it was a disappointing loss last week against Manly, both Josh Hodgson and Josh Papalii believe they have the keys to turn the Green Machine on.
The Raiders succumbed to a 14-6 loss against a depleted Manly Sea Eagles side, but that has not dampened the spirits of the squad.
While they were a bit predictable in attack at times, the Hodgson is to the belief that fine-tuning the attack in an easy fix but rued on missed opportunities.
“Our attack was a little bit clunky on the weekend, we had every opportunity to beat Manly with all the injuries they had,” Hodgson said.
“It was a fair opportunity to beat a good team, very disappointed we didn’t take the chance, I think sometimes less is more, sometimes we have to get back to the basics, strip it back a little bit and get a little more strike in our attack.”
The Raiders will need to better against a rampant Parramatta Eels side who are currently sitting at the summit of the competition table.
Parramatta are also reeling off a tough loss against the Sydney Roosters, but they been setting the competition alight with their second phase play and their dominant pack.
Both aspects must be contained this week and the Raiders must be more disciplined this week the English International claimed.
“They’re a big team and they love playing a bit of second phase footy from what I’ve seen so far, they look like they’re really enjoying the aggression and the physical battle,” Hodgson said.
“We have a few things we need to fix up, we will have a look at them, especially in attack, if we make 15 errors like we did last week against a side like Parramatta, we will be punished.
“You can’t be making too many errors against a big side, because that means you have to tackle them even more.”
Although it was a frustrating afternoon for the Raiders last Sunday, Papalii isn’t lamenting on missed opportunities, rather he is focused on making amends against a competition heavyweight.
“I watched the game a few times now, it was a very frustrating game, it felt like nothing was going our way, we had our chances to win that game, but now it’s back to drawing board moving forward,” Papalii said.
“Parra are probably the number one pack, we strive ourselves on being successful, we get to see where we are at with Parramatta, hopefully, we go out there and start well and finish even stronger.”
The dual-international stated although he is not at his personal best, he is ready to change that this week and lead from the front.
“I am always mentally prepared to go for any game, I just think I am not up to scratch at the moment,” Papalii said.
“I am ready to get that bit better this week and being one of the older guys in the pack, I need to lead by example.”
