Raiders energised: McCrone

A hastily-arranged training camp has served to prepare under pressure Canberra for their must-win clash at Newcastle, according to halfback Josh McCrone.

Members of the Raiders squad have spent a week on the New South Wales Central Coast in a bid to put last weekend’s 40-0 drubbing by Wests Tigers behind them.

Canberra sit just one place above bottom-placed Parramatta in the NRL ladder having just four wins to their name so far this year.

Coach David Furner is under pressure to turn the Green Machine’s fortunes around when they travel to Hunter Stadium on Saturday.

Co-captain McCrone says the camp has been ideal preparation.

“The week in camp has been really good,” McCrone told the club’s official website.

“Everyone was feeling pretty down after last week’s loss but we’ve responded really well to the camp and everyone’s been really positive throughout it. It’s been very worthwhile.”

“The idea of the week was to get away from the spotlight in Canberra to clear everyone’s heads. We know we let our fans down last week but we don’t want to dwell on it. We want to move on and get some wins on the board for the Raiders.”

“We want to start afresh and get back on track for a run to the finals. We’re all re-energised and personally I can’t wait to get out there and make amends for last week’s disappointment by beating the Knights on Saturday.”

Wayne Bennett-coached Newcastle are also hoping to use the match as a catalyst to put right their stuttering season. 

“They’re in a similar situation to us and it’s a great opportunity for us to leapfrog them on the ladder and get our season back on track,” added McCrone.

“We’re hopeful that we can bring our A game to Hunter Stadium and bring the two points back to Canberra for our fans.”