Sam Williams says the Raiders know they need to improve quickly after a disappointing fortnight for the Green Machine.
A visibly disappointed Ricky Stuart fronted his side after Sunday’s loss to the Sharks, saying that a number of players needed to lift their game.
“It’s certainly stinging,” said Williams of Stuart’s comments.
“It was what we needed to hear. He was honest with us, and we all know we need to aim up and be better in a lot of areas. It was honest and it was fair, and we cop it on the chin and move on.
“It’s not like he’s gone out there and given us a spray, he was just honest. He’s an honest sort of bloke Ricky, and that’s the best part about him.
"He’s up-front whether you’re going well or going poorly – he lets you know where you’re at and that’s all you can ask from a coach.”
Williams has had a disrupted start to the 2016 season, coming in and out of the first grade side with injuries in the halves seemingly becoming the norm.
“You’d like to be there every week, but I enjoy playing every game I get. I just want to be part of the team and part of the squad. Whenever I play I want to try and do well and I want to win.
“It didn’t happen on the weekend, we had a bad loss. This week’s another opportunity to go out there and try and play well and try and win.”
The Cooma product said the playing group understands they have areas to improve, and they will need to do so quickly against a dangerous Tigers outfit.
“The Tigers, when they play their best footy, are as dangerous a team as anyone. If we’re not on our game, it’s going to be another tough week.
“We understood how tough the last two games were going to be, we just haven’t played as well as we would have liked. We can turn it around this weekend.”
The Raiders host a Tigers outfit riding a five-game losing streak, but Williams acknowledged that Canberra are wary of Wests’ attacking firepower.
Tigers fullback James Tedesco looms as a danger man for the visitors, after establishing himself as one of the premier fullbacks in the NRL this season.
Williams will join halves partner Aidan Sezer and hooker Josh Hodgson throughout the week in watching Tedesco’s game film, working out how to reduce his impact on the contest.
“He’s shown at the start of this competition that he’s one of the best fullbacks in the game. He’s doing everything right at the moment, and as a team we need to make sure that we try and nullify how good he can be against us.”
Williams and his Raiders teammates will look to snap a two-game losing streak this Saturday at GIO Stadium when play gets underway at 5:30pm.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE RAIDERS TRAINING THIS WEEK
