Harrison hails Dragons 'the different scene' he needed

The fit-again New Zealand international has hailed a move to St George Illawarra as the "different scene he needed", but is none the wiser of his involvement in a season-opening stoush with world champions Melbourne.

"I suppose first of all I would like to be in the side and then I'll work from there," the ex-Raider said.

"It's been a while since I've been back playing at the top level so I want to get that under my belt first and go from there.

"I've probably only been back the last three or four weeks in full training. It's good to get that under my belt and put all the injury worries behind me."

The fact the 27-year-old remains none the wiser about collecting a boarding pass en route to AAMI Park signals the depth in the Dragons' back row ranks.

Harrison appears locked in a showdown with fellow recruit Tyson Frizell (Cronulla) for the remaining starting second row spot alongside skipper Ben Creagh.

But it also hints at Price keeping his players on edge ahead of a campaign where all and sundry have panned their finals chances before a ball has been kicked.

Hampered by a back injury which restricted him to just 10 games in the final of a four-year tenure in the nation's capital, Harrison said the squad still felt they could make an impact on the finals picture.

"It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks - it matters what we think," he said. "We think that we're good enough to be there so we'll put our case forward.

"To be honest the intensity has been there the whole time [during pre-season]. We've put in a good off-season - it's just a matter of gelling together and putting it all together for round one."

Harrison also urged the man largely responsible for his exit from the Raiders, fellow New Zealand-born back-rower Josh Papalii, to concentrate on his football as the tug-of-war over his services continues.

The emergence of Papalii, whose signature Parramatta trumpeted last week before the Raiders launched an 11th-hour bid to keep him at the club, had Harrison sliding down David Furner's pecking order.

"I think he's got the support of everyone around him and that's probably the main thing," Harrison said. "He just wants to concentrate on his footy."