COWBOY WARY OF WELL-OILED RAIDERS
COWBOYS centre Justin O’neill does not believe his side’s recent winning form will be enough to overcome the Raiders, however he backed the emotion of Anzac Day round to bring out the best in his side.
The 30-year-old made his first appearance for North Queensland since suffering a concussion against the Sharks in round four, making a winning return against the Bulldogs with 85 running metres and 12 tackles in the 30-18 victory.
However, while the veteran said there had been improvements in wins against Wests Tigers and Canterbury, the Cowboys would need to find another gear against Canberra.
The Cowboys still made 15 errors against the Bulldogs, while they squandered an 18point lead to allow a 12-man Bulldogs outfit back within a converted try.
The Green Machine are coming off an emphatic defeat at the hands of Parramatta, after which coach Ricky Stuart blasted “individuals” in his side for believing they
were NRL players walking the walk.
But with the likes of Jack Wighton and Josh Papalii in their ranks, the Raiders are every chance of responding to the revving up in full force.
And O’neill said if he and his Cowboys dished up a similar performance as Sunday they would fail to make it three wins on the trot.
“The Raiders are definitely a well-oiled team — we need to be improving,” he said.
“I thought it was another step in progress from the game they played against the Tigers, so if we can keep without working on that and on the up it would be great.
“I was happy to get out of the game without any injuries or head knocks, so hopefully we can build on that and progress and only get better from there.”
The Anzac Round clash at Queensland Country Bank Stadium on Saturday will pit two cities with a heavy military presence against each other. It is an influence O’neill believes will bring out an explosive and determined brand of football, with the occasion sure to emphasise the camaraderie between the defence force and football bodies.
“I think it always inspires or ignites something in players to play on that weekend,” O’neill said. “I think definitely players find an extra effort that weekend, it’s a special weekend to be a part of and a privilege to play.
“To have this game here it’s important to us and the special city we have with (a lot) of the population being in our defence force.
“We definitely want to perform in front of our home crowd and to get three wins would be great.”