Canberra forward Hudson Young knows if the Green Machine are to match it with the undefeated Broncos on Saturday night then they need to find what's been "consistently" left in the sheds at half-time.
After trailing by only seven points at the break last week, the Raiders went on to concede seven tries in 40 minutes in a second-half tale all too familiar for the side, who have coughed up a lead of eight points or more in three matches this year.
The Raiders now face a daunting road trip to Suncorp Stadium to take on the competition leaders in a remarkable twist for both sides ahead of Round 6.
According to NRL data based off results in 2022, the Raiders were given the 'easiest' draw in 2023 while Brisbane the 'toughest', in which both clubs have already defied with opposite results this season.
However, Young said last week's heavy defeat to the Panthers came as a costly wake-up call to break their trend of fading out in second halves to start the year.
Young pounces
“We’ve started every game this year on fire. For some reason we just aren’t finding it in the second half and we really need to find it this week,” Young told NRL.com.
“I feel like it’s the same every week, we come out and perform for 40 minutes and then just fall away in the second half.
“We train well, we prepare right and we start the games well but we're just not committing to each other.
“It comes back to a mentality thing, our commitment to each other and we’ve got to find it this week.”
Young said the echoing sound of boos from GIO Stadium is what's driving his side to believe in an Easter weekend “ambush” and make amends against the Broncos.
Regular playmaker Jack Wighton (suspended) and stand in five-eighth Matt Frawley (hand injury) are both unavailable for the clash with Brad Schneider coming into the halves.
Horsburgh is fired up
“We don’t get beat here at home and to hear boos really hurt me and the team so this is something we know we need to get right,” he said.
“We can’t use missing Jack (Wighton) as an excuse. It’s the next man up mentality and we just got it wrong.
“We’ve been building something special here over the last season and the start of this year so we know it’s there.
“As a leader it’s up to me and the rest of the senior group to rally around the young blokes. It’s going to be hard for them to have a loss like that but the good thing about footy is you get to go again in seven days and get things right.”
With forwards Payne Haas and Pat Carrigan taking the Broncos to new heights this season, Raiders enforcers Joe Tapine and Josh Papali’i will need to set the platform upfront to relieve pressure off the Raider's depleted spine.
After the Panthers ran 800 metres more with the ball, broke 31 more tackles and kicked 127 metres last Friday, the 30-year-old said the forward pack is working hard to ensure they have an 80-minute performance in them come Saturday.
An incredible Tapine intercept
"The test just gets harder with the Broncos this weekend... but we’re working hard away from the field and trying to build those connections again," Papali'i said.
"We took out some positives from the first half, we were definitely in their game but the second half we just came out, we weren’t ready and Penrith made us pay.
"Hopefully we can take that first half attitude into the game."
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