Matt Frawley is ready to take the inspiration he received from last weekend’s 40th Anniversary celebrations into Magic Round, as the Raiders look to build on their momentum against the Cronulla Sharks on Sunday.
It was a big weekend both on and off the field for the club, with Friday’s crucial win at home against the Bulldogs kickstarting the festivities.
Players from every Raiders generation were at the match on Friday evening, before celebrating together at the 40th Anniversary Gala.
For Frawley, being around those Old Boys was incredible, with the five-eighth looking to take that inspiration into his performance this weekend.
“We had two nights after the game where we had the old boys with us. To then have the gala dinner on the Saturday night, we heard some really inspiring speeches from the players who got inducted into the hall of fame,” he said.
“We talked about it in the meeting this morning just how special those speeches were. It is something you can build off, those nights and weekends. Hopefully we can use that for the coming weeks and for the rest of the season.”
Frawley is already coming off a season best performance against the Bulldogs last weekend, with his efforts propelling the team to victory.
His highlight reel try late in the first half capped off a triumphant return to the first grade team, with the five-eighth seamlessly filling in for the suspended Jack Wighton.
Speaking on his try, Frawley admits that his tendency to pass first almost denied Raiders fans the incredible moment.
“I was looking around for Starlo or for someone and they weren’t really there. I thought I would just try and pass it to them anyway and then Dufty went for the intercept, and it opened up again,” he said.
“Luckily there was only 15 metres to go because I reckon I would have been mowed down. It was obviously very pleasing to get a try, I will always take them when I can get them.”
Whilst the Raiders did defeat the Sharks at home in their first match of the season, Cronulla have been on an impressive run of form ever since.
Headlined by the likes of Nicho Hynes and Siosifa Talakai, they will be a stern challenge for the Green Machine this weekend.
Despite the Sharks missing multiple players through suspension, Frawley still believes that they will a tough matchup on Sunday afternoon.
“They have a couple out, but you look at the players that they still have to come in and there is a lot of quality, so I don’t think that it will make a huge difference for them,” he said.
“They are a team that likes to play a lot of footy. They throw the ball around which is something that we have to be aware of and we have started that preparation today, defending their shape. We are going to have to be at our best to get the win.”
Frawley and the team will be looking to make it two from two this weekend against the Sharks, with kick-off set for 1:50pm on Sunday afternoon at Suncorp Stadium.
