Fiery Raiders front-rower Brett White has defended his team following their sixth successive loss at GIO Stadium, with their most recent disappointment a 26-12 drubbing to the Knights last Saturday afternoon.
Heading into their game against the Storm this Easter Sunday, White concedes that while it has been frustrating he believes there hasn't been any psychological damage suffered during their streak of home losses.
"We’re all still believing in what we’re doing and where we’re going. We just need the results to follow," White said.
"That’s the tough thing about this team this year. We’ve worked so hard and everything’s looking really good off the field, but unfortunately we just haven’t got the result at home that we all desire and that we’re all chasing.
"Every game this year, we’ve always been in the fight right to the end and that’s a promising thing. If we can have that effort and that performance week in, week out, we know we’re not far off being one of the good teams."
Any suggestion that the Raiders will be haunted by their last start against Melbourne, a 68-4 defeat in Round 21 last season, was shut down by an adamant White who claimed that it won't affect his side at all this weekend.
"Anything that happened last year doesn’t affect this year. We’re a new team, totally different from last year," White said.
"I don’t need to tell [the younger players] anything. They’ve got great attitudes. That’s the good thing about where we’re at at the moment, there’s some really good attitudes.
"The boys are working hard and keep putting in, and I think you can see that in every performance."
While the Raiders have been competitive in 2014 they have only managed to win two of their first six games, with four of these fixtures being on the road. White, a former NSW Origin representative, notes that while the draw has been tough – it is not an excuse when all is said and done.
"It’s been tough so far on the road for us but that’s the draw – you’re never going to get an easy draw and you don’t want an easy one," White said.
"They are games we have to win and that’s it."
In positive news for the Raiders, back-rower Joel Edwards – upon his return to first-grade this weekend following successive concussions – has re-signed with the club for a further three years tying him to the club until 2017.
"There's a real belief happening here at the club. It's a great club and community and we love our members down here and it's a club that moving forward down here," Edwards said.
"I didn't even bother [looking at over clubs] I seen what was happening here at the club and I knew I wanted to be a part of it. It's very exciting with such a great squad and a young squad so it's great news."
