Admitting they were not up for the contest last weekend, AFL Cairns premiership hopefuls North Cairns must find the fire again tomorrow against a Manunda side that has everything to play for.
Shock losers to South Cairns last weekend, Tigers' captain-coach Kane Richter conceded they were out-enthused and outplayed in a rare humbling at home.
"They probably wanted it more than we did" Richter said. "They had a lot to play for, and they've been playing well lately. They are a good team."
The win was massive for the Cutters, who are now in the box seat to take fourth place and qualify for September's final series.
Manunda are the other team battling for that spot, and the pressure is now on them to match Souths' efforts with an upset of their own this weekend.
Even if the Hawks do win, it could all be for nothing if the Cutters can beat the Crocs in Port Douglas on the same day.
Manunda captain Fred Pittorino said they would enter with a heightened sense of urgency given the happenings of last weekend, and that is was good thing.
"I guess we were probably looking ahead to our game against Souths in that last round as a mini-final, but them winning means we probably need to get a win this week first," he said.
"We know we need to play well this weekend now. And if Souths can back up last week by winning in Port they deserve fourth spot."
"It'll be tough against a side that had their pride hurt and don't want to have back-to-back losses, even if they've already got first place sewn up."
Pittorino is happy they will field a strong side this weekend, with a strong, local flavour the key. "I wish we could name this team every week. It isn't fly-ins, it's just all the Cairns boys available but we shape up well. We'll have a real crack," he said.
North's have only lost twice this year, but last weekend's result prompted Souths' ruckman Luke Powell to claim they may have peaked too soon.
Richter disagreed, saying injuries had stunted them in recent weeks, but they were confident they could continue the charge to their first official premiership since 1988.
He will sit out this weekend with a niggling injury but hopes to return for next weekend's final round of fixtures.
Last Modified on 23/09/2013 15:39