Coming into this weekendโs do-or-die 2019 grand final replay against the Sydney Roosters, Canberra Raiders fullback Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad said heโs driven by his sideโs heartbreaking loss in last yearโs decider.
โItโs a really big motivating factor for me personally. Weโve spoken about it as a team and as individuals,โ he told Canberra Daily.
โThose chances donโt come up often โฆ Itโs a burning desire, the ultimate goal as a player.โ
But he warned getting past the Roosters into a preliminary final against Melbourne will require a better start than what the Raiders conjured up on the weekend against Cronulla.
The Green Machine went into half-time down 14-10 having made nearly twice as many tackles as the Sharks and only sharing 35% of possession.
โWe didnโt play to our standards and that showed in the scoreline and the amount of tackles we ended up making,โ Nicoll-Klokstad said.
โEveryone was pretty frustrated with how we started the game โฆ We had to turn it around pretty quickly.โ
Coming up against the Roosters, who are renowned fast starters, Nicoll-Klokstad said setting the pace early in their do-or-die clash will be imperative for a Green Machine victory.
โThereโs no doubt weโll be able to come home strong, but we canโt put ourselves in that position where we have to claw back after 20 minutes,โ he said.
โWe do have a pretty good game plan against the Roosters but itโs about us putting it into play, itโs about what we do and what we can control, and weโve got to start fast.โ
Relishing his second year as an NRL fullback, Nicoll-Klokstad said individually heโs set out to continue adding strings to his bow with regard to his ballplaying, support running and defensive positioning – drawing inspiration from former Warriors teammate Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and the man heโll line up opposite this weekend, James Tedesco.
โFor me it was just about maintaining what I thought I did well last year and then just adding stuff to my game,โ he said.
โI canโt say that I am where I would want to be, but I feel like Iโm tracking in that direction so Iโm pretty happy โฆ Iโm really proud of myself just looking at past games and seeing how far Iโve come.โ
Off-field, Nicoll-Klokstad said while living under the NRLโs Apollo protocols has been restrictive in terms of enjoying his time away from the game, conversely, heโs appreciative that he still gets to do what he loves.
โWe were pretty much locked up in the house and only allowed out for essential stuff, so youโre missing out on a lot of stuff with your kids,โ he said.
Enjoying his second year at the Raiders and second year living in Canberra, Nicoll-Klokstad said heโs grown to love life in the national capital.
โAs a player coming through the junior systems, I always said I would never move to Canberra โฆ but it really suits where Iโm at.
โWhat weโve got here growing as a team and with the community backing us as well, itโs pretty special โฆ I really do love Canberra,โ he said.
