There's not many tougher tasks in the NRL than facing the Knights at Newcastle on a Sunday afternoon.
Chris Randall knows firsthand, having played 29 games for the Novocastrians before his move north to the Gold Coast - the 28-year-old expecting it to be a tough arena for he and his Titans teammates this weekend.
But with plenty to play for - including a strong end to 2024 - it's not just the Knights who are keen to get up for this weekend's clash.
"Sunday arvo at McDonald Jones is always a big occasion and there’s going to be a big crowd," Randall said.
"It’s a good atmosphere and I’m expecting it to be sold out. I’ve heard that it’s close to a sell out already with it being Father’s Day.
"An early Sunday arvo kick-off, the weather will probably be good so it’ll be a tough game, but we’ll be up for it too.
"I've got plenty of friends and family who are planning on coming, so it’ll be good to put a good game on for them and get a win."
Match: Knights v Titans
Round 26 -
home Team
Knights
9th Position
away Team
Titans
14th Position
Venue: McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle
With a full focus on finishing the season with notching two wins in their final two games, the versatile forward feels inconsistency has been their Achilles Heel this season; a mix of moments of brilliance helping them ice games, before error-ridden periods of play halting that momentum.
"We’ve just got to focus on ourselves," Randall said.
"We have patches of good footy and then bad footy in us. The bad footy is costing us at the moment and putting us under a lot of pressure at times.
"We just need to simplify our footy and go set-for-set. I think that’s when we’re at our best.
"We’ve got plenty of X factor in our team that can come up with points off the cuff, but we’ve got to give ourselves that chance to play that style of footy and get into the groove and grind."
The game prep has also included not worrying about what Newcastle have at stake with the result, instead honing in on playing well themselves to build into 2025.
"They’ve got plenty to play for, so it’s going to be a tough occasion in front of a big home crowd and it being on Sunday arvo," Randall said.
"I know those boys will be up for that, so we’ve just got to meet it head on and worry about ourselves and finishing the year in a good position to help us build into next year’s pre-season."
