With the Sharks week one NRL Finals fate now sealed following the Raiders victory over the Tigers at Leichhardt, experienced forward Luke Lewis said the side faces a tough challenge, regardless of where the match was scheduled to be played.
With the fixture looking likely to have been played at Allianz Stadium in Sydney prior to the Raiders triumph over the Tigers, a road trip to Canberra now awaits the Sharks - but Lewis said he and the side are looking forward to the hostile environment that awaits.
“It doesn’t matter if we play at Canberra or we play here (in Sydney), we’ve still got to play ‘Away,” Lewis said.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got a tough game this weekend, and we need to win.
“If we can do that, it gives us a week off to rest our bodies … The good thing is, we get two bites at the cherry.”
While the Sharks were unable to down the Storm in Melbourne in what was the Club’s final game of the regular season, Lewis told sharks.com.au that spirits within the squad remain high, heading into the ‘new competition’ that is the Finals series.
“We’re pretty confident heading into next week,” Lewis said.
“(Canberra) played really well against us a couple of weeks ago at Southern Cross Group Stadium, we came off a five-day turn around … Knowing that we are coming up against the Raiders now, we’re really going to do our homework on it and train really hard.
“They have got strike all over the park, but if we can play to our potential I’m pretty confident we can get the job done.”
