MACQUARIE co-captain Zac Rennick is wary of the attacking threat the Parkes Spacemen pose tomorrow but is backing his side to get the job done and head into the Group 11 finals on the back of a win over one of the competition's form sides.
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Parkes have demolished their opposition in the past three matches, scoring more than 200 points in the process, but Rennick is relishing the opportunity for his side to test themselves at this stage of the season.
"It's what you want, a really tough match just before the finals so we're expecting a good, physical game," he said.
"Parkes have been good all year, they've just been a bit unlucky with a couple of results but they're coming into the game with a bit of momentum."
The Raiders enjoyed the bye last weekend and it came just at the right time for the 2012 premiers with a number of players in the side battling injury.
Josh Merritt, Adam McDermott and Perry Meredith all remain injured and will miss tomorrow's match but Rennick said his side was in good shape after the week off.
"We're nice and refreshed and we probably had our best training session of the year this week and it gave the boys a chance to get over a few little niggles," he said.
Eddie Gusuivalu will move to halfback in the absence of Merritt and is expected to add some real intensity to the Raiders attack.
The versatile Gusuivalu struggled for fitness for much of the early part of the season but was getting back to his best now and Rennick was looking forward to the influence he could have on tomorrow's game.
"Eddie's got a lot of energy, he goes like a bull at a gate and he's good around the ruck," he said.
"At training he's really on his game and gets everyone into a good shape so it's good to have him back."
Macquarie have struggled for consistency for much of 2014 and Rennick wants to see his side get back to their best and peak at the right time of the year.
"We haven't hit our straps yet so hopefully we can start to do that in the next few week and go from there," he said.
"There's heaps we can improve on, I think we've only played one good game this year and that was when we went to Parkes and beat them last time, we really stepped up that day."
Tomorrow's match kicks off at 2.30pm, following the under-18s and reserve grade which start from 11.30am.